Bend startup’s product Simplifying solar power installation February 9, 2010

A year ago, Bend solar-power startup AC Solar Technology did not even exist.

Last week, CEO Glenn Harris presented his company’s product, a solar module, to industry representatives from the United States, France and Switzerland at a startup conference in San Francisco.

And this week, AC Solar Technology expects to receive its ETL Listed Mark, which shows the modules meet Underwriters Laboratory safety standards, and which will allow the company to start production.

AC Solar Technology’s Blue Leaf 210W AC module, which is essentially a small solar electrical system, has the potential to open up the solar market to small commercial and residential users, Harris said. It simplifies solar power installation.

Photovoltaic systems produce DC, or direct current. Most electrical appliances in a home use AC, or alternating current. So most solar systems need wires that lead from the solar panels to an inverter, which converts direct current into alternating current. The wires continue from the inverter to the building’s electrical system.

The Blue Leaf module essentially removes the direct current portion. It has no DC wiring or components and uses AC from the modules to the power grid, according to a company news release. It has a single AC line leading from the inverter on the back panel. It’s like an extension cord, Harris said.

“We think the market is going to like a little 200 watt solar system,” he said. “That’s not something that’s been done before.”

Removing the DC part of the equation also simplifies installation for electricians, he said.

Costs for solar electric systems can vary, depending on the size, the system rating, installer and other factors, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. On average, the costs run $8 to $10 per watt, before rebates or tax credits.

Harris estimates a Blue Leaf module, which measures about 5 feet by 3 feet, will cost $5 per watt installed, or about $1,500, after rebates and credits.

Before his work with AC Solar Technology, Harris worked for Bend-based PV Powered, which makes inverters, both as its president and also a consultant. He also served as CEO of SunCentric, a Grants Pass company that provides a variety of services for solar power firms.

Harris does not believe AC Solar will compete with PV Powered, at least not directly. PV Powered does not make small-sized inverters or modules, he said.

Founded in the middle of last year, Harris said AC Solar Technology does not have a real office.

But it’s looking to get one.

With its certification in hand, the company will be able to start manufacturing, first at a temporary location, he said. AC Solar, which expects to employ about 150 workers by the end of its third year, also has been seeking a permanent site, but Harris said he’s not optimistic it will be in Oregon.

The climate in the state has become uncertain with the debate over the Business Energy Tax Credit, sparked after its estimated $4 million cost expanded to $167 million in lost revenues .

Harris understands, he said, how that leaves lawmakers to make tough decisions, balancing the state’s need for tax revenue with its desire to encourage renewable energy.

Other criteria also factor into the decision on where to locate, Harris said, not just government incentives. Along with Oregon, he said, other states in the running are Arizona, Delaware and Michigan.

Arizona, with its abundant sunshine, major population centers and transportation infrastructure, is attractive, Harris said. In one morning in Phoenix, he saw about 10 buildings and 1 million square feet of real estate.

“Some of the other states are chomping at the bit,” he said.

Harris expanded on his company’s product and market in an interview with The Bulletin.

Q: What makes your product different?

A: The new technology is the box on the back. It takes the DC power right at the back and turns it into … AC. You could put one on your back fence. … You could put one on your roof and wire it right into a 110 (volt line). It’s just three regular wires going into your fuse box. You could walk into Costco and buy this thing. Basically, you enable everybody.

Q: Where does it fit within the solar power market.

A: (It has the) potential to open up lots of different markets. Our interest is expanding the residential market. (It’s a) market expansion device.

Q: Where is AC Solar Technology located presently?

A: We don’t have official offices at the moment. We’re looking for a place to call home. It’s time to put the stake in the ground. We’re going to build the modules. I think we’re pretty well ready to start manufacturing. The question will be where.

Q: What are the considerations?

A: It’s really not a competition, per se. It’s not like they walk in and hand you a check and say thanks for being here. It really comes down to: Is it a great place to build? How’s the transportation system? What the state does is icing on the cake.

Tim Doran, Bend Bulletin - http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100209/BIZ0102/2090373/1002/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01

Clean energy backers tout jobs at Tri-City conference February 8, 2010

The expansion of clean energy represents the next major source of economic development and job growth in Washington, and the Tri-Cities is at the epicenter, a Washington congressman said Sunday.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., told attendees during the opening day of the 10th Harvesting Clean Energy Conference that more than 11,000 jobs in the state are associated with the production of clean energy — including hydro, wind, solar, nuclear, biomass and more.

The goal of the conference, which runs through Tuesday at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, is to promote rural economic development in the Northwest through clean energy development and production, organizers said.

And passage of energy legislation by Congress this year will help spur creation of even more jobs, said Inslee, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Agriculture and the development of the aerospace and software industries represented the first three waves of job creation in the state, with clean energy technology the newest rung, he said.

“The Tri-Cities is perfectly positioned for the next great wave of technological development,” Inslee said, citing in particular electrical generation work by Energy Northwest and solar technology by Infinia Corp. of Kennewick.

The House already has passed an energy bill. In the Senate, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John Kerry, D-Mass., are developing bipartisan energy legislation, Inslee said.

Approval of energy legislation is crucial, Inslee said, and not only for job growth and climate protection. America also is in a research and development race with China to create clean energy technology.

“They have made the decision they want to dominate the clean energy industrial base in the next 10 years,” Inslee said.

Conference workshops Sunday included sessions on hydropower, tapping the resources available to farms and rural communities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the promise of biochar — charcoal prepared from biomass that is used to generate energy and improve the productivity of soil.

In agriculture and industry, electric vehicles quietly are becoming more commonplace because they don’t pollute and have lower long-term maintenance costs.

There are plug-in electric buses and hybrid school buses, short-haul trucks, tractors, forklifts used in agricultural warehouses and an electric utility vehicle — similar to an ATV — made by an Oregon-based company.

The electric utility vehicle made by Barefoot Motors of Ashland is being used by ranchers and those involved in vineyards and orchards, electric utilities and forestry companies, among others, because of its workload capacity, low energy and maintenance costs and quiet operation, said Barefoot’s Bob Acheson.

Electric vehicles, however, tend to be expensive because of the cost of lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory are working to improve battery technology, said Tim Murphy, who is involved with the lab’s advanced vehicle testing effort.

“The potential payoffs for cost-effective batteries are huge for us,” Murphy said. “I look at it as a real energy, security and quality of life issue.”

Conference workshops today will include sessions on biomass, wind power, Smart Grid technologies and generating energy from food processing waste.

Richard Wynne, director of geopolitical and policy analysis for Boeing, will give the keynote address this morning on agriculture’s potential role in developing renewable energy sources for aviation.

Kevin McCullen, TriCity Herald – http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/893449.html

Oregon Wind power entrepreneur readies turbine for market February 7, 2010

After three years in development, a sullied business partnership and a significant financial set back, a Coquille woman’s invention — a roof-mounted appliance that generates electricity from wind — will soon reach the market.

Mary Geddry, CEO of Coquille-based Rogue River Winds, said the ultra-efficient, low-profile, sturdy wind turbine with a built-in generator called the V-LIM, is generating interest.

She’s gearing up production. But don’t expect any local manufacturing jobs to spin out of it — at least not anytime soon.

“There just isn’t the infrastructure in Coos County at this time,” she said.

After attempts to get the V-LIM off the ground locally failed, Geddry relocated the project to Portland where a prototype was in the works, before she again relocated it to Cottage Grove where it was completed and may be manufactured.

She said some manufacturers in Alaska and the East Coast have expressed interest in producing it, as well.

So what is it exactly?

Owners of industrial and commercial facilities who want to scale back energy usage can affix the V-LIM atop roofs — where wind velocity is greatest — to generate power to pump back into the grid.

The V-LIM is said to be more efficient than traditional wind turbines in that it produces electricity in winds ranging from light breezes to Class 2 hurricanes, is silent and vibration free even in gusts up to 100 miles per hour. As wind speed increases, so does the turbine’s power output.

It has rapid response steering foils to direct the turbine to face oncoming wind, according to a press release.

It’s about three meters in diameter and is designed for commercial and industrial use.

The unit costs between $125,000 to $150,000.

The price could be split.

If several large facilities within proximity of each other purchase one, they could share the cost savings.

“Our goal actually is to implement them into a microgrid, because that is the most cost effective way to purchase and provide power,” Geddry said.

The V-LIM produces 25 kilowatts on average during wind bursts. Peak energy users can expect a return on investment, in consistently blustery regions, in about three years, Geddry said.

The product has garnered interest from a local nonprofit seeking a new location with plans for a energy-efficient facility.

“We’ve been following her project,” said Patricia Gouveia, director of energy services at Oregon Coast Community Action. “Primarily, we want to develop a sustainable campus and support Coos County businesses, so it seemed like a good match if we can make it happen.”

“For a nonprofit,” she added, “if we can get to the point where we can pay our own energy costs, that’s a huge savings for us.”

Gouveia said they’d seek grant money to fund a project.

From concept to finished product was bumpy road. Geddry had hopes originally to design and manufacture the units locally, creating jobs. But a business partnership with a local entrepreneur fell apart.

“It just wasn’t getting done,” she said of the project. “It wasn’t getting finished and I had to get it finished.”

According to Geddry, every part manufactured here had to be replaced. The turbine has been re-engineered completely, which tripled her original cost projection.

She said the move to Portland was necessary to stay within a budget and timeline.

Geddry, who crafted the unit’s aerodynamic design, recruited brain power from Portland State University to upgrade the efficiency of the mechanism with a high-bandwidth generator.

Electrical engineer and Coos County resident Dr. Stanley Marquiss came on board to design a “plug-in-play” feature, which allows the appliance to configure itself into a facility’s energy system automatically once it’s installed.

Before the V-LIM can officially go on the market, it needs to be certified with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energies Laboratory, a process that could take about six months. In the meantime, Geddry hopes to begin production to meet demand — which may come from the U.S. Department of Defense.

All military bases, Geddry said, must produce 25 percent of energy from alternative sources, such as wind, by 2025.

Talks with the DOD are preliminary at this point, she said, but supplying the government agency with the V-LIM has potential.

“It appears that they would be one of our biggest markets,” she said.

Nate Traylor, The World – http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2010/02/06/business/winds_of_change_731.txt

Winds of change: Port looks beyond recent green boom February 7, 2010

For two years, wind energy has brought a gale of a business to the Port of Longview. But change is blowing through the industry, and port officials say they are gearing for the end of boom times.

The port collected a combined $17.6 million in wind-energy handling fees in 2008 and 2009, and those fees were a major reason the port had record revenue each year. The off-loading of the giant wind towers, turbine blades and nacelles manufactured overseas has meant more work for area longshoremen, who recycle the money paid by shippers back into the community.

Federal officials are pushing for more domestic wind-energy manufacturing, which could translate into lower demand for imports through the port. The recession has stalled large-scale wind projects, and wind energy expansion is limited by the capacity of high-voltage transmission lines.

“The industry, as a whole, is experiencing some general flat-lining,” said Valerie Harris, Port of Longview marketing director.

Port officials forecast wind energy to be a steady commodity for about five to seven more years. Late in this decade, wind-energy equipment will likely come through the port intermittently instead of steadily, Harris said.

This year, business will slow down as a lagging effect of the recession, but it should pick up through the middle of the decade, Harris said.

In 2008, the port broke a nine-year-old record by hauling in $23.5 million in revenue. About 40 percent, or $9.4 million, was from wind-energy transport.

“It’s given us a lot of man hours and a lot of work, especially in the economic downturn,” said Dan Coffman, president of the Longview-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union local 21.

Port officials are predicting another record-breaking revenue year for 2009. Final numbers aren’t yet available, but the port’s wind-energy revenues fell to $8.2 million in 2009.

Going with the grain

So what’s the next big money-making cargo for the Port of Longview? The obvious answer is the $200 million grain terminal Portland-based EGT Development is building at the port. With a capacity of 8 million metric tons, the elevator is expected to make the Port of Longview a major West Coast grain exporter when it goes online next year.

The grain elevator is expected to create 50 full-time jobs, and 30 would go to longshoremen, Coffman said. The elevator likely will employ more people than wind energy imports because it will operate with more shifts, he said. Also, with demand rising in Asia, grain export isn’t likely to be a boom-and-bust business, port officials say.

“If wind energy does taper off, the (grain) facility will still be there,” said Ken O’Hollaren, Port of Longview executive director.

Revenue from log exports, once king at the port, is slowly coming back as the rest of the world emerges from the recession, O’Hollaren said.

The port also is exploring domestic shipping to other West Coast ports and expanding its barge traffic to inland states, he said. For example, the port could load logs on barges to travel along the coast or head inland along the Columbia River, O’Hollaren said.

Also, the port could start importing materials and parts such as steel paneling needed to build the wind towers and turbines if U.S. manufacturing starts to take off, Harris said.

“We haven’t waited until we saw a downturn or a flat-lining in wind,” she said.

Along the West Coast, the ports of Longview and Vancouver have emerged as the premier handlers of wind-energy cargo. In Vancouver, port officials say they haven’t pinpointed when wind-energy imports will sunset.

“It’s just too early to tell,” Port of Vancouver spokesman Nelson Holmberg said.

Wind blowing offshore?

The port’s wind energy business could reverse itself over the next few years.

Both Vancouver and Longview ports are looking to move into the export of wind energy equipment, especially with President Obama pushing for more green jobs. Over the past two years, the Port of Longview has loaded a handful of ships with wind-energy cargo manufactured stateside and bound for Asia and Europe.

“With the wind industry being a global industry, an increase in U.S. and worldwide manufacturing as well as installations will likely result in more activity for ports, back and forth, as markets continually adjust on a global basis,” said Christine Real de Azua, a spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association, a Washington, D.C.,-based trade group.

“For example, some components will eventually be exported from the U.S. to other countries as the U.S. builds up its capabilities and the president seeks to boost our exports,” she said.

Wind power capacity worldwide grew by 31 percent in 2009, according to the Global Wind Energy Council, and China accounted for about one-third of the growth. The United States accounted for about 10 percent.

About 2,000 megawatts of wind power capacity already is on line in Oregon and Washington. Over the next two decades, Western states can handle about 4,500 more megawatts of wind energy, which would power more than 1 million homes, said John Harrison, spokesman for the Portland-based Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

The electricity transmission grid can’t handle much more growth that, Harrison said. To help add capacity to the system, the Bonneville Power Administration, the largest power marketer in the Northwest, is planning to build a 70-mile-long transmission line from Castle Rock to Troutdale, Ore.

Wind energy depends on the wind blowing, which is why utilities need a reliable source, such as hyrdropower, as a backup, he said.

“When the wind isn’t blowing, the dams can be turned up. When the wind is blowing, the dams can be turned down,” Harrison said.

Demand for wind energy worldwide is likely to remain high for years, but it remains to be seen where clean-energy-hungry countries will buy the equipment.

Despite all the talk of adding domestic green power manufacturing, total employment in the industry was down in 2009. Without the federal stimulus package approved last February, wind energy would have lost 40,000 jobs, according to American Wind Energy.

Denmark and Japan remain the big players in the manufacturing of wind-energy components, which bodes well for the import business at the Port of Longview.

That’s good news to Coffman, president of the longshore union. Longview is an attractive port for wind-energy manufacturers because its has a new, $4.7 million mobile harbor crane and longshoremen experienced in handling wind cargo, he said. One Longview operator developed an innovative strategy to handle the turbines with a forklift more quickly, which boosts business, he said.

“It just shows the creativity of some of our people here,” Coffman said.

Erik Olson, The Daily News – http://www.tdn.com/news/local/article_96fa57b8-139c-11df-9924-001cc4c03286.html

Weyerhaeuser-Mitsubishi sign biomass fuel deal February 2, 2010

Weyerhaeuser Co. said it’s signed a deal with Mitsubishi Corp. to explore possible future biomass-to-energy deals.

The Federal Way timber giant (NYSE: WY) and the Tokyo trading company said they’re interested in the feasibility of opening a commercial-scale production facility next year that would make bio-pellets from biomass (materials from trees and wood byproducts) and sell them to utilities and industrial users for energy production.

Mitsubishi currently operates two bio-pellet facilities in Japan and already has a deal to make bio-pellets in Germany.

“This opportunity has the potential to offer a significant renewable energy option here in North America and beyond while also creating green jobs in our operating communities. At the same time, we have the opportunity to enhance the value of Weyerhaeuser timberlands by converting residuals from our forest management activities into a new revenue stream,” said Dan Fulton, Weyerhaeuser CEO and president, in a statement.

Puget Sound Business Journal - http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/02/01/daily16.html

Daimler receives $40M for heavy-duty truck efficiency development January 13, 2010

Portland-based Daimler Trucks North America received nearly $40 million from the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday to develop energy efficiency technologies for heavy-duty trucks. The company will match the grant with an additional $40 million.

Daimler received the largest single slice of the $187 million in federal grants announced Monday, all of which was given to auto industry manufacturers to develop fuel-efficient engines and other technologies for trucks and passenger vehicles by 2015.

A news release from the Department of Energy said Daimler’s share will be used to work on engine downsizing, electrification of auxiliary systems like oil and water pumps, waste heat recovery, improved aerodynamics and hybridization.

A spokesperson for Daimler said the majority of the $80 million will be spent in the Portland area on its SuperTruck project. The company’s research and development division, which employs 750, is based on Swan Island.

It could be another significant development for the Swan Island plant, which company officials planned to close this year until announcing in September that it was changing course.

Among the reasons for keeping the plant open was a $377 million contract from the U.S. Army to make 1,780 military trucks.

The grants awarded Monday includes $100 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and covers up to half of the cost of each project, bringing the total public-private investment for the projects to $375 million.

The nine companies to receive grant awards claim their projects will create more than 500 jobs for researchers, engineers and other managers developing the technologies. The projects are expected to generate as many as 6,000 jobs by 2015, including many in manufacturing and assembly.

A majority of the federal grants, $115 million, went to three manufacturers in the long-haul truck industry. Alongside Daimler were Columbus, Ind.-based engine-maker Cummins Inc. and Fort Wayne, Ind.-based truck- and trailer-maker Navistar Inc.

The remaining $71 million went to manufacturers in the passenger vehicle market with a goal of improving the fuel economy of engines by 25 to 40 percent in the next five years. Recipients include Cummins, the Chrysler Group LLC, Delphi Automotive Systems LLC, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., and The Bosch Group.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/01/11/daily1.html

Oregon solar operations get $87M in tax credits January 13, 2010

Three companies have gotten a total of $87 million in tax credits to boost clean-energy technology in Oregon.

They include the SolarWorld wafer plant in Hillsboro and a German company, Centrosolar, reported to be interested in a photovoltaic operation in Gresham.

The SolarWorld plant got the largest amount of credits — $82 million — for an expansion.

Spokesman Ben Santarris called the credits a welcome addition as the company struggles to compete with panel manufacturers that get substantial government backing in countries such as China.

He said SolarWorld, also based in Germany, is hiring eight to 10 workers a week for the Hillsboro plant. The company plans to invest $500 million, have 1,000 employees and be able to produce solar panels with 500 megawatts of generation capacity.

A representative of Centrosolar told The Oregonian newspaper an announcement was expected Monday about the company’s plans. It got $4.7 million in credits.

The Oregon Department of Energy has approved a $6.2 million loan in October for CentroSolar America to finance construction of a 100-megawatt-capacity photovoltaic manufacturing facility in Gresham, although the money has not been disbursed.

Pacific Metal Fab got $304,000 in credits for producing parts for solar hot water systems in Eugene.

The Obama administration announced a total of $2.3 billion in tax credits Friday.

The credits are part of the federal stimulus program. The amounts are not cash grants, but would offset the companies’ tax liabilities.

Ashland Daily Tidings – http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100112/LIFE/1120305/-1/NEWSMAP

Boardman biofuel plant gets $25M federal grant December 11, 2009

ZeaChem Inc. on Friday said it has been awarded a $25 million federal stimulus grant it will put toward its cellulosic ethanol plant under construction in Boardman.

Lakewood, Colo.-based ZeaChem announced last month that it had started construction on the 250,000-gallon-capacity plant, which will be capable of converting organic material such as forest waste and wood pulp into fuel.

The company’s core technology, which will result in a chemical called ethyl acetate, will be online by 2010. The $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will be used to build and integrate additional components that will enable final production of cellulosic ethanol.

ZeaChem was one of 19 organizations to be selected for a total of $564 million in stimulus grants targeted for advanced biorefinery projects.

The roughly $34 million biorefinery will use poplar trees as its principal feedstock. The trees will be supplied by GreenWood Resources Inc., a Portland company that operates a 17,000-acre tree farm near Boardman. If successful, the company hopes to expand the Boardman plant to commercial-scale production in the range of 25 million to 50 million gallons of fuel annually.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/11/30/daily55.html

Ashland, Ore. EV manufactuer drops price to $7,995 November 19, 2009

In an effort to bring electric vehicles to the masses, Brammo Chief Executive Craig Bramscher announced this week that the Oregon-based manufacturer will drop the price of its Enertia electric motorcycle to $7,995. The suggested retail price had been $11,995.

“We set the retail price two years ago, and now that we’ve built dozens of prototype bikes and built 100 for customers, we now have the real data to determine what it’s going to cost us to build these and get them out in larger volumes, so we’re able to price that in accordance now,” Bramscher said.

The price reduction is possible because of “pricing in the supply chain and reducing labor and making systems more efficient,” Bramscher said, adding that it takes about two hours to assemble an Enertia at its Ashland production facility.

Additional price breaks on the bike are available through federal incentives, which allow buyers to write off 10% of the purchase price on their tax returns and, until the end of 2009, reimburse them for their state sales tax. Many states, including California and Oregon, provide additional incentives.

Anyone who’s already purchased an Enertia is eligible for the lower price. According to Bramscher, they simply need to call the company at (541) 482-9555 or e-mail the firm at www.brammo.com to request a refund.

– Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times – http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/uptospeed/2009/11/brammo-drops-enertia-price-to-7995.html

Editor’s Note: A quick life-cycle cost analysis shows these bikes pay for themselves within 4 years compared to most cars, when used as daily transportation. Also, these bikes are charged by  plugging into any normal power outlet, extremely simple. And, the battery is rated for 2000 recharges, which equates to just over 5.5 years. Wow!

Commercial Wood-to-Biofuel facility planned for Boardman, Ore. November 18, 2009

A Colorado company that has developed a process to convert wood to fuel is starting construction of what will eventually be a commercial-scale production plant.

Lakewood-based ZeaChem Inc. is working with Hazen Research of Golden to build the first units of its biofuels refinery. ZeaChem President and CEO Jim Imbler says the company will transfer the modular units to Boardman, Ore., where it will eventually run a commercial refinery.

ZeaChem plans to start production at a demonstration facility in Oregon by the end of next year.

ZeaChem uses a bacteria to break down the cellulose in wood to make fuel. Imbler says the process, unlike traditional fermentation with yeast, produces little carbon dioxide.

The company raised $34 million earlier this year to help build a refinery.

Gazette Times – http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_93ef17d1-e18f-5221-bcff-81a2a2c6de18.html

Treasure Valley company relies on solar power to charge electronic devices in automobiles November 16, 2009

A Treasure Valley company has come up with a way to charge electronic devices in an automobile without draining the battery or requiring the vehicle run on idle for long periods of time.

Treasure Valley Solar in Boise has put together an integrated system that uses the power of the sun to charge electronic devices such as computers, cell phones, and PDA’s without turning on the vehicle’s engine.

The equipment could meet the needs of companies with fleets of vehicles that are out in the field or even construction companies looking for ways to charge their power tools, say company officials.

The cost: $1,200 to $1,500.

Bill Robert, Idaho Statesman – http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/975253.html

Oregon governor defends green tax breaks November 14, 2009

By GOV. TED KULONGOSKI

The Sunday, Nov. 1, story by The Oregonian’s Harry Esteve, “State lowballed cost of green tax breaks,” implied that I or my staff directed former state energy director Mike Grainey to manipulate or falsify cost estimates for the Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) when we expanded the program in 2007 to grow Oregon’s renewable energy jobs sector. That implication is highly misleading.

I did no such thing. I also did not ask my staff to direct Grainey or to work with staff at the Energy Department to reduce revenue impact statements. The suggestion is not a practice that I have ever endorsed or executed as governor of Oregon.

Two days later, the front page of The Oregonian also ran a story announcing 200 new, high-paying jobs with Sanyo, a solar energy company that opened a multimillion-dollar facility in Salem.

As I said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the growth in Oregon’s renewable energy sector was not by accident — it was by design and the result of public policies, such as the BETC and the Renewable Portfolio Standard among others, that encourage new companies to move here and thrive here. The Sanyo story is all about jobs — in Oregon during a nationwide recession — and replicates other BETC successes.

The numbers prove that the BETC program is one of the most effective economic development tools in our effort to create green jobs. Since we expanded the program in 2007, Oregon has ranked in the top 10 states in wind energy production; has become the leading solar manufacturer in North America, with SolarWorld, Sanyo, PV Powered, Solaicx and Peak Sun; and according to the Pew Charitable Trust, Oregon has the highest percentage of green jobs per capita of any state in the nation.

These companies not only employ thousands of Oregonians and contribute billions to our state’s economy, but also help advance the transition to cleaner, renewable energy sources.

That said, I have always believed that tax credits have a life span and require regular review to ensure the credits remain good public policy. The BETC program is no exception.

The expansion of the BETC program in 2007 proved a success and was used beyond anyone’s expectations. As a result, the debate about the program was one of many policy discussions during the 2009 legislative session. Throughout the session I remained an advocate for the program as one of many tools to grow our green economy and spur renewable energy development — but I was also clear that I was open to a reasonable level of modification.

Last session I supported House Revenue Committee Chair Phil Barnhart’s proposal to responsibly reduce the cap for the BETC from $10 million to $7.5 million. But I could not support the final version that emerged from the Senate, which reduced the cap even further to $3.5 million, because it would have put Oregon at a competitive disadvantage with our neighboring states at a time when we needed to be doing everything possible to create economic opportunities — not squander them.

In August, when I vetoed the Senate version of the bill, I restated my support of re-examining the incentive levels of the BETC. That is why I fully endorsed another bill that directed the Oregon Department of Energy, Public Utility Commission and Oregon Business Development Department to commission an economic analysis of renewable energy projects that qualify for the BETC so we can obtain the latest facts and make an informed decision about the program going forward. That study will be completed by next October in order to have the necessary information for the 2011 legislative session before the program sunsets in 2012.

When I vetoed the bill, I also directed the Department of Energy to tighten the rules implementing the BETC, including clarifying issues around awarding multiple BETCs, establishing clear performance criteria, such as job creation, as well as increasing state authority to revoke, approve or deny BETC applications. These rules, which were developed over the last three months, took effect this month and are a first step to better ensure that Oregon is getting a return on its investment.

A second step was taken last week to begin to address the pass-through option discount rate. There are also other ideas about making the program more selective that we should continue to debate during the February 2010 special session and the 2011 regular legislative session. With the new rules in effect, as well as an updated economic analysis of the program, we will have the information needed to make prudent decisions about how best to ensure that this program delivers new jobs, greater energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy.

The BETC program has played an invaluable role in helping Oregon become a leader in green jobs and technology. I agree that we need to take another look at not only the kinds of projects that qualify for the program, but also how the state implements it so the public is certain that the program is working to create jobs for Oregonians.

The citizens of Oregon should know that I am committed to making sure government is accountable and transparent. The BETC is a good program that requires continual re-evaluation to make sure the program is delivering the maximum benefit to the citizens of Oregon through clean energy and green jobs.

Ted Kulongoski is governor of Oregon.

Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/11/oregon_governor_defends_green.html

New rules proposed for green tax credits in Ore. November 13, 2009

The Oregon Department of Energy on Friday issued a new proposed “pass-through” rate for its Business Energy Tax Credit program that cut the rate of return on an investment significantly.

The pass-through option allows owners of an energy project to transfer the tax credit to a partner in exchange for cash.

The new rules propose to align the pass-through rate to the five-year U.S. Treasury Note and the urban Consumer Price Index for the West region. If enacted, the new formula would mean the annualized rate of return for a pass-through partner taking a 5-year 50 percent renewable energy BETC will drop from 9.85 percent to 3.42 percent.

The rules would create a standardized formula for pass-throughs that would be reviewed quarterly.

Mark Long, the energy department’s director, said the new proposed pass-through is one that “reflects current economic conditions.”

“Depending on the final outcome of rulemaking, the rate change could result in more money going to the actual energy project and a rate of return more in line with other government sponsored projects,” Long said in a news release.

The amended pass-through rate follows a more comprehensive overhaul of the BETC program unveiled earlier this month.

Effective immediately for new tax credit applications, the rules address issues such as project cost overruns and eliminate the ability of a single project to receive multiple tax credits.

It also established new criteria for project eligibility and gives the Department of Energy the authorization to suspend and place conditions on applications. It also provides new criteria for project performance, giving the department authority to revoke a permit if it believes an applicant misrepresented the project.

This summer, as state legislators grappled with a massive budget shortfall, critics argued that the BETC program — which paid out $68.8 million in credits over the past two years — would rise to $143.8 million in the next biennium if left unchecked.

Legislators passed a bill that would have reduced that payout by $20 million, principally by cutting back credits for wind energy projects.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski vetoed the bill, but in recognition of legislators’ concerns he signed another bill directing the energy department to conduct an economic analysis of the BETC program.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/11/09/daily56.html

Oregon becoming a major destination for foreign solar firms November 9, 2009

Uni-Chem, the South Korean company that wants to start making solar cells in the Hynix plant in west Eugene, is just the latest in a string of foreign companies that are coming to Oregon to seek their solar fortune.

A half-dozen solar companies, including firms based in Germany and Japan, already have landed in Oregon, and more are circling the state.

These companies have caught the scent of a monumental market opportunity. Solar industry experts say the United States is poised to become the world’s largest market for photovoltaic panels. That prediction is backed up by a stack of federal, state and local incentives to encourage Americans to install solar panels on their rooftops, and by the growing list of states, including Oregon, requiring utilities to obtain a certain percentage of their power from renewable energy sources, such as solar.

Producers are following the market, said Shyam Mehta, senior analyst at GTM Research, an affiliate of Greentech Media, an online media company based in Cambridge, Mass.

“With stimulus funds and massive utility deployment expected to drive 1.6 gigawatts in U.S. demand by 2012, domestic, Chinese and European companies are making major investments in solar factories over the next five years, particularly in panel manufacturing,” he said.

“More (U.S.) plants were announced in the first half of 2009 than in the previous three years combined,” Mehta said.

With its skilled work force, network of suppliers, access to university researchers, and generous subsidies, Oregon exudes a powerful allure for these companies.

“As we look around the U.S. and ask the question, who has the best incentives for starting solar factories, Oregon always comes out at the top,” said Roger Little, CEO of Spire Solar, the Massachusetts company that is working with Uni-Chem to set up U.S. solar production. In February, his firm even launched a “Come to America” campaign, encouraging foreign companies to set up solar manufacturing on American shores.

“If you can maintain the benefit that you provide to these companies, then you’ll continue to grow in the solar field,” he said. “I think it’s a huge opportunity.”

But it remains to be seen how successful these Oregon newcomers will be, whether they’ll meet their production and employment projections, and ultimately, whether they’ll help Oregon become a center for clean-energy technology and manufacturing.

Oregon is well on its way to achieving that goal, according to a recent report by Mehta, the GTM Research analyst. U.S. solar module manufacturing capacity, as measured in megawatts, will rise 45 percent a year from 2008 to 2012, from 875 megawatts in 2008 to 3,880 megawatts in 2012, the report forecasts.

One megawatt installed typically powers 150 to 200 households, said Monique Hannis, spokeswoman for the Solar Energy Industries Association in Washington, D.C.

Mehta ranks Oregon as the No. 1 site for companies locating solar manufacturing plants in the United States. He predicts that Oregon and California will emerge as major solar manufacturing centers in the next few years, with Oregon accounting for 59 percent of the United State’s “producible (solar) wafers” in 2012.

Solar ingots are sliced into wafers, which are then cut into cells to make photovoltaic panels, or modules, which are installed to generate power from the sun.

Tax credits popular

Many of Oregon’s solar companies said they were drawn in by the state’s package of goodies, including reasonably priced vacant semiconductor plants and their skilled ex-workers; inexpensive, reliable electrical power; access to higher-education researchers and work force training; proximity to the massive California solar market; and incentives, including the state’s Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) program, known as “Betsy.”

Under the program, a solar manufacturer may apply for a tax credit worth half of a project’s costs. The tax credit is capped at $20 million, to be claimed over five years.

Eligible projects include investments, such as improvements to plant and equipment. Recipients may sell their tax credits at two-thirds their face value for cash, which solar manufacturers are doing because they aren’t generating enough income to take full advantage of the credit themselves.

Solar manufacturers and state business development officials say the tax credit is just one of many compelling reasons for a solar company to settle in Oregon.

“It was really a matter of everything coming together at the right time in the right place for the right price,” said Ben Santarris, spokesman for SolarWorld, the German company with a solar cell plant in Hillsboro.

Some of those factors, he said, included a well-maintained facility on nearly 100 acres “at a fraction of the original price;” a regional work force “well-steeped in silicon and high-tech manufacturing”; a strong educational system to help develop the industry, from technical training to research; responsive state and local governments; and incentives “strong enough to level the playing field with those of other states.”

“Remember, we’re investing $500 million into U.S. manufacturing, which is pretty bold in this era,” Santarris said. “We were looking for the set of conditions under which this enterprise had the most going for it.”

Although they aren’t the sole draw, the subsidies do matter, solar company officials say.

John Sedgwick, co-founder of Solaicx, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif., and opened a plant in Portland two years ago to produce ingots and wafers, said the large base of trained employees was the area’s biggest attraction.

“That was far and away the No. 1 criteria,” he said.

“The Betsy (tax credit) was quite important,” Sedgwick added. “It wasn’t the primary reason for locating in Portland, but it certainly was a nice sweetener.”

The tax credit and property tax waivers had even more pull for Sanyo Solar, which last month opened its wafer and ingot facility in Salem.

“The real deal maker for us was, of course, the incentives program,” Sanyo Solar spokesman Aaron Fowles said.

Combined, the Business Energy Tax Credit, enterprise zone property tax waiver, and other incentives are estimated to cover half of Sanyo’s $80 million costs to set up its Salem plant.

The Business Energy Tax Credit is “a very, very rich subsidy,” said Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, who chairs the Senate Revenue Committee. “It’s by far richer than any other state has, so it’s going to make us very attractive to solar companies.”

The main reasons why Uni-Chem wants to set up in the Hynix plant are “incentives, the closeness to the market (California is the largest solar market in the United States) and the appeal of the facility itself,” Uni-Chem spokesman Yoon Ho Kim told The Register-Guard in late September.

Uni-Chem “will be applying for everything that’s offered to us,” he said.

That’s likely to include the Business Energy Tax Credit, as well as the enterprise zone tax break, which would waive three years — and possibly two additional years — of property taxes on improvements Uni-Chem makes to the Hynix complex.

Uni-Chem has said that it will spend $100 million to $150 million to convert the third-floor of the Hynix plant to solar cell manufacturing. Assuming a $100 million investment, Uni-Chem could qualify for a $20 million Business Energy Tax Credit, which it could sell for about $13 million cash, plus three years of enterprise zone property tax waivers, valued at roughly $1.85 million a year.

Federal policy helps, too

A variety of recent policy moves in the United States are giving solar producers confidence in the U.S. market’s potential, Mehta and other analysts say.

Last year, a 30 percent federal tax credit for residential and commercial solar installations was extended for eight years, sending a message that the United States is serious about solar, said Hannis, the Solar Energy Industries Association spokeswoman.

That extension “was a very important signal that here’s a stable policy that’s going to support demand here in the U.S.,” she said.

In addition to federal, state and local incentives encouraging U.S. residents to install solar panels, the federal stimulus bill and some states — including Oregon — offer subsidies directly to solar manufacturers.

The Advanced Energy Tax Credit, which was part of the federal stimulus, offers manufacturers a 30 percent tax credit on the cost of equipment. That is set to be converted to a direct cash payment.

“A lot of (solar) companies have expected the U.S. market to be the No. 1 market, but we haven’t had the policies in place to sort of let the market take off,” Hannis said.

Some of the federal stimulus subsidies contain “Made in America” requirements, providing a further incentive for foreign companies to establish U.S. manufacturing.

“A logical place to locate American facilities in order to have American content is in Oregon,” said Sedgwick, of Solaicx.

Some Oregonians may think they’ve seen this all before — chasing the semiconductor industry with incentives, only to see most of them pack up and go home when the market sank.

Solar isn’t as cyclical as the semiconductor industry, Sedgwick said. Solar behaves more like the energy industry, which is marked by steady demand, he said.

And the move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy is expected to take decades. Currently, only 1 percent of electricity used in the United States is solar-generated, Hannis said.

“The big (solar) boom is going to last a while because it’s going to take a while to outfit every single house,” she said.

“We believe that (solar) is a really solid long play,” said Bruce Laird, clean-tech recruitment officer with the state business development department.

As each state reaches “grid parity” — the point at which solar-generated power costs the same per watt as power generated by other means — “the pull-through demand for solar products is pretty straight up for the next 20, 30, 40 years,” he said.

“At a certain point you hit grid parity, and look out, because one thing that everybody likes is a good deal,” Laird said. “And if you can do the environmental right thing and get a good deal, that is like virtue on the cheap.”

Sherri Buri McDonald,  Register-Guard – http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/22174413-41/story.csp

New solar materials plant opens in Salem November 9, 2009

Sanyo Solar of Oregon LLC officially has started making products at its new Salem factory. On Monday, the company dedicated its $80 million manufacturing plant with speeches from VIPs and a toast with Oregon-brewed sake.

Sanyo now has about 100 employees in Salem, and by next year the local work force is expected to expand to 200, company officials said. The plant, which makes silicon ingots that are sliced into wafers for solar cells, is at 5475 Gaffin Road SE.

On the count of three, local dignitaries and Sanyo executives broke open casks of sake with mallets as part of the opening ceremonies.

“May this plant be successful and bring joy to the community and pride to its workers,” Tetsuhiro Maeda, a vice president of Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., the Japan-based parent company of the local operation, said during a toast.

Then the crowd sipped sake, made by a Forest Grove company, from square wooden cups.

But the festivities also had a serious side: State and city officials hope the arrival of Sanyo will usher in a new era for Salem as a location for renewable energy companies.

“This new investment is proof that focusing our efforts on clean technology and renewable energy, even in volatile economic times, is working and is the right strategy for Oregon’s economic future,” Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski told the crowd at the grand opening.

In the past two years, a half-dozen companies in the solar power industry have opened operations in Oregon. The solar energy companies have brought more than 1,000 good paying jobs to the state, Kulongoski said.

Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit has been a big draw for the solar industry, including Sanyo. The incentive provides a tax credit that is as much as half of the energy facility’s cost. If issued, the tax credit is claimed over five years.

The governor said he expected other solar energy companies soon will announce plans to make more than $100 million worth of investments in Oregon. That could bolster the state’s economy with hundreds of new jobs, he said.

Yasuyoshi Kawanishi, the president of Sanyo’s Salem plant, said it was only a span of 10 months from building the plant to production. Sanyo will do its best to contribute to the community and provide local jobs, he said.

“We are now at a new starting point,” Kawanishi said.

Sanyo’s plant occupies a 19.77-acre site. Ownership of the land is in the process of being transferred to Sanyo, which has already paid the city about $1.74 million for the property.

Salem leaders hope the remaining 59 acres of city-owned property on Gaffin Road SE site will attract other companies and become known as a renewable energy and technology park.

“This will enable us to develop a cluster of sustainable companies and provide more family wage jobs for our area,” Salem Mayor Janet Taylor said.

The positive spin-offs from Sanyo, and companies like it, also include property taxes to support city services, she said.

Taylor had her initial meeting with a Sanyo official about five years ago, she said.

A year ago in September, Sanyo publically disclosed its plans to open a plant here.

City councilors signed off on enterprise zone tax breaks for Sanyo, which provide tax abatement on new construction and equipment. They also agreed to extend the standard three-year enterprise zone tax break to five years.

Commitments the company have made to receive tax incentives require Sanyo to maintain an average salary and benefit package of $50,000 per worker and employ a minimum of 200 people in Salem.

Michael Rose, Statesman Journal – http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20091103/NEWS/911030331/1001/news

Bend’s PV Powered prepares to expand its facility November 9, 2009

The sun continues to shine on Bend’s PV Powered.

The solar products manufacturer has added 30 employees since June and is fast-tracking an expansion project in order to add more capacity to its plant in the Brinson Business Park in northeast Bend.

The company is now up to 80 employees and hiring more thanks to market demand for its 260-kilowatt inverter that’s exceeding sales and industry expectations, said Erick Petersen, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing.

“We’re pretty blown away by the industry acceptance — and the interest in the product caught us a little by surprise,” Petersen said.

PV Powered designs and manufacturers solar inverters, which convert energy collected from solar panels into electricity that can be used in a home or business or routed into transmission networks.

The company previously specialized in small residential inverters but has developed larger units for commercial use, including a 1-megawatt inverter it recently unveiled.

Petersen said that as utilities and companies invest more in commercial-scale solar power, they are turning to PV Powered to fill their inverter needs. Couple that with demand for renewable energy projects stoked by federal and state stimulus dollars, and Petersen said the company is projecting year-over-year revenue growth that will triple in 2009 and 2010.

“We’ve gotten validation from the marketplace. … It’s really started to take off,” Petersen said.

To boost its manufacturing capacity, the company is speeding ahead with a planned expansion that will add 12,000 square feet of assembly area and 50,000 square feet of warehouse space.

The company was previously using a fraction of its roughly 100,000-square-foot plant, a former wood products mill.

Petersen wouldn’t say how much the expansion is costing but pegged it as a multimillion-dollar project. The privately-held company doesn’t release sales or revenue figures, but Petersen said the expansion is being funded by both its surge in sales and a multimillion-dollar investment of debt and equity financing it received last summer from Vancouver, Wash.-based investment firm Evans Renewable Holdings II LLC.

The expansion is slated to begin next week and finish by January.

“2010 is going to be a huge year for us, so we wanted to kick off the expansion before the snow flies,” Petersen said.

Andrew Moore can be reached at 541-617-7820 or amoore@bendbulletin.com.

Andrew Moore, The Bulletin – http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091106/BIZ0102/911060378/1002/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01

Mid-Columbia could be smart energy center October 31, 2009

The Mid-Columbia’s future could be as a smart energy center, says the first public look at plans being developed by a coalition of area business leaders led by the Tri-City Development Council.

One opportunity to do that may be by launching a carbon-friendly project to reduce the 45,000 gallons of diesel that the Hanford vitrification plant could require per day when it begins treating radioactive waste, said Gary Petersen, TRIDEC vice president of Hanford programs.

He and Keith Klein, president of the Local Business Association, spoke about the new Smart Energy Initiative at the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting Wednesday.

Community leaders have long been concerned that the region’s economy relies on the Hanford nuclear reservation’s environmental cleanup. Now about 11,500 people are employed there. But as soon as 2015, when areas of the reservation are cleaned up, employment could start a long decline.

“In the meantime, we have an opportunity to rebrand ourselves,” Klein said.

A vision for the region’s future began to develop after DOE began discussing the idea of focusing more cleanup money on reducing the contaminated footprint of nuclear weapons sites across the nation.

Newly available land then could be turned into industrial parks to research and produce clean energy.

At Hanford, about 60 square miles of land would be available for an energy park, primarily in the southeast corner. Land likely would be leased rather than sold.

Since January, a coalition of local leaders in energy businesses, economic development, job training and education have been meeting to brainstorm strategies to develop the Mid-Columbia’s potential as a clean energy center.

The TRIDEC group is looking at three potential projects with different energy sources for the vitrification plant, Petersen said. While the group is not ready to discuss specifics, two projects would be carbon-neutral and the third would produce a smaller carbon footprint than the diesel fuel now planned to be used at the plant.

Under the current plan, the vitrification plant would use a combination of diesel fuel, which could peak at 45,000 gallons per day on cold winter days, and 70 megawatts of electrical power.

As the Smart Energy Initiative moves forward, TRIDEC will need to know what land and facilities DOE would be willing to make available for private use, Petersen said.

Among TRIDEC’s interests is pitching the 250,000-square-foot Fuels and Materials Examination Facility at Hanford for recycling nuclear fuel that has been used once at commercial power production plants.

TRIDEC and the coalition of business leaders also need some seed money and would like a better way to cut across all the DOE offices for the support they need. For instance, land managed by the DOE Office of Environmental Management is proposed for an energy park at Hanford, but the office can only spend money on Hanford cleanup.

But it’s not just the Hanford resources that would contribute toward making the Mid-Columbia a clean energy center. It already has an impressive energy infrastructure, Petersen said.

About 40 percent of Washington’s total power and 100 percent of its wind power is produced within 100 miles of the Tri-Cities, Petersen said. Power generation within 100 miles comes from wind, hydroelectricity, coal, natural gas and a nuclear plant, with biomass power being developed.

It also has the science and technology backbone needed to become a smart energy center, with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Washington State University-Tri-Cities’ Bioproducts Science and Engineering Laboratory and the Tri-Cities Research District.

The area has multiple energy companies ranging from Areva, which produces the nuclear fuel for 5 percent of the nation’s power supply, to companies focused on wind and solar energy.

By Annette Cary – http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/934438.html

Solar company bypasses Nampa, picks Denver for plant October 27, 2009

Nampa was one of two finalists for the manufacturing plant planned by German solar manufacturing firm SMA Solar Technology AG.

“We are disappointed,” said Paul Hiller, executive director of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, a unit of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. “But the Boise Valley was in the running until the last minute, and the decision for SMA was a very difficult one.”

SMA selected Denver because of its proximity to suppliers who provide the materials used in the manufacture of solar inverters, Hiller said Monday. Solar inverters change direct current from photovoltaic arrays into alternating current.

Officials said previously that the plant eventually could employ 1,200 people.

The Treasure Valley competed well by having an abundant, skilled workforce, low electric power costs, available real estate, a business-friendly environment and a favorable quality of life, he said.

The company considered a 200,000-square-foot building owned by Micron Technology that used to house MPC Computers.

Idaho Statesman – http://www.idahostatesman.com/micron/story/950296.html

Silicon Energy of Arlington crafts a sleeker kind of solar panel October 26, 2009

Sometimes it’s what you don’t see that makes a product special.

When you stand beneath a solar panel built by Arlington’s Silicon Energy, you won’t see jumbled, ugly wires or opaque padding. You’ll see blue from the silicon cells and sunlight streaming through.

“It makes a better-looking product and a safer one,” said Gary Shaver, president and chief executive of Silicon Energy.

The state’s first solar panel manufacturer, Silicon Energy’s product just entered this market this summer, when the company received certification from Underwriters Laboratory for its solar modules. The UL’s stamp of approval means that Silicon Energy’s solar panels meet product safety and compliance guidelines.

The certification process took longer than Silicon Energy’s Shaver expected. But that’s not unheard of when you’re doing something different — like hiding the panel’s electrical gear in small, protected side panels and sandwiching silicon between supersturdy glass.

Silicon Energy’s product is more expensive than some on the market. The company promotes its solar modules as “beautiful, strong and durable.”

“We’re not a cheap product,” Shaver said.

Silicon Energy prices a 1.4 kilowatt panel between $11,000 and $14,000. But government incentives are making solar panels an attractive product for consumers, businesses and utilities.

The federal government offers a tax credit to consumers for up to 30 percent of the purchase and installation costs for a solar panel system. The state has a production incentive of 15 cents to 54 cents per kilowatt hour, with power produced from Washington-made products receiving the higher amount. And the state has made it easier for Silicon Energy to do business in Washington, offering a 43 percent reduction from the standard business and occupations tax rate for solar manufacturers. Additionally, local utilities, such as Snohomish County’s PUD, provide further incentives to consumers for solar power.

Silicon Energy designed its solar panels to withstand 125 pounds per square foot, making the product durable enough to endure high winds and heavy snows. The company’s solar panels can be used for canopies, carports and awnings, as well as more traditional roof installations or wall installations. Eight panels could provide 40 percent to 50 percent of a typical home’s electricity, Shaver said.

As a small start-up company, Silicon Energy is a little slow on the production side, but it’s picking up the pace, Shaver said. Together with its parent company, OutBack Power Systems, Silicon employs about 20 people. While the company is providing some jobs on the manufacturing side, Shaver sees his company helping to create green jobs on the installation and power distribution side of the industry. And that’s what drew kudos from Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., when Silicon Energy got the OK to start selling UL-certified products this summer.

“The certification again shows us that Washington leads the way in the clean energy economy,” Inslee said.

Despite the rain, Western Washington has an excellent climate for solar power production, Shaver said. It’s a popular misconception that solar panels work best in hot, dry sites.

“Our spring, summer and fall are spectacular for generating energy,” Shaver said.

By Michelle Dunlop, Herald Writer - http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20091025/BIZ/710219982/0/ETPZONELT

New Tualatin plant will make wind turbines October 23, 2009

While other businesses struggle in this economy, Tigard’s Powin corporation may have found a niche market that is thriving — wind power. The company plans to extend its reach into that market.

Powin is building a new 71,000-square-foot plant in Tualatin to manufacture 20-kilwatt wind turbines.

Powin’s owner, Joseph Lu, says the company is currently making some smaller turbines — 3 kilowatt and 10 kilowatt — in its Quality Bending & Fabrication plant on Herman Road in Tualatin.

“But it looks like the market is getting bigger,” Lu said.

The new plant will most likely employ 95 people, and Lu says the company doesn’t plan to shut down its Herman Road facility which currently employs 23 people.

Groundwork on the new plant’s site, on the north side of Tualatin-Sherwood Road at 115th Avenue, began last month. Powin Pacific Properties Project Manager Thomas Falk says they hope to begin construction of the plant “ASAP.”

“We’re just waiting for the final plans to get out of architectural review, and then we’re going to start construction,” Falk said.

The plant will sit on about 7.5 acres, of the 38 acres Powin bought from the Koch family in 2007.

Is the wind turbine a good business to be in right now?

“I hope so,” Lu said.

At its existing Tualatin plant — Quality Bending & Fabrication (QBF) — Powin manufactures a variety of custom parts for equipment manufacturers. The plant also serves as Powin’s U.S. prototyping facility. QBF has been operating since 1988, but Powin bought the plant three years ago.

With its variety of equipment QBF can develop the mold and fixtures needed for new parts development and production. The plant has manufactured parts for companies such as Boeing, Freightliner, Daimler-Chrysler, American La France, Anthro Corp, Warn, Valmont, LSM Dental, Hewlett Packard and Paccar.

Powin at a glance

Powin was founded in 1989 by Joseph Lu, a Chinese-American, who saw unique value in his family ties in China. Using his connections and knowledge of the nuances of Chinese local laws and languages, he arranged to manufacture goods for American distributors. Over time, his abilities grew into a balance of low-cost production and high-value dependability — guaranteeing the quality and services companies rely on. This combination helped build Powin into the $60 million company it is today.

With nine plants in two continents and more than 3,500 workers worldwide, the company says it provides an unparalleled level of manufacturing support for companies all across the United States. More than 2,000 products and parts are produced by Powin on a regular basis, everything from outdoor cookware to exercise equipment.

The company’s headquarters are in Tigard.

By Nick Peterson, The Times - http://www.tualatintimes.com/news/story_2nd.php?story_id=125617524013180400

Arlington, Wash. firm leads way in solar panels October 23, 2009

Sometimes it’s what you don’t see that makes a product special.

When you stand beneath a solar panel built by Arlington’s Silicon Energy, you won’t see jumbled, ugly wires or opaque padding. You’ll see blue from the silicon cells and sunlight streaming through.

“It makes a better looking product and a safer one,” said Gary Shaver, president and chief executive of Silicon Energy.

Silicon Energy, the state’s first solar-panel manufacturer, released the product to the market this summer, when the company received certification from Underwriters Laboratory for its solar modules. The UL’s stamp of approval means Silicon Energy’s solar panels meet product safety and compliance guidelines.

The certification process took longer than Silicon Energy’s Shaver expected. But that’s not unheard of when you’re doing something different — like hiding the panel’s electrical gear in small, protected side panels and sandwiching silicon between supersturdy glass.

Silicon Energy’s product is more expensive than some on the market. The company promotes its solar modules as “beautiful, strong and durable.”

“We’re not a cheap product,” Shaver said.

Silicon Energy prices a 1.4-kilowatt panel between $11,000 and $14,000. But government incentives are making solar panels an attractive product for consumers, businesses and utilities.

The federal government offers a tax credit to consumers for up to 30 percent of the purchase and installation costs for a solar panel system. The state has a production incentive of 15 to 54 cents per kilowatt hour, with power produced from Washington-made products receiving the higher amount. And the state has made it easier for Silicon Energy to do business in Washington, offering a 43 percent reduction from the standard business and occupations tax rate for solar manufacturers. Additionally, local utilities, such as Snohomish County’s PUD, provide further incentives to consumers for solar power.

Silicon Energy designed its solar panels to withstand 125 pounds per square foot, making the product durable enough to endure high winds and heavy snows. The company’s solar panels can be used for canopies, carports and awnings as well as more traditional roof installations or wall installations. Eight panels could provide 40 percent to 50 percent of a typical home’s electricity, Shaver said.

As a small start-up company, Silicon Energy is a little slow on the production side, but it’s picking up the pace, Shaver said. Together with its parent company, OutBack Power Systems, Silicon employs about 20 people. While the company is providing some jobs on the manufacturing side, Shaver sees his company helping to create green jobs on the installation and power distribution side of the industry. And that’s what drew kudos from Rep. Jay Inslee when Silicon Energy got the OK to start selling UL-certified products this summer.

“The certification again shows us that Washington leads the way in the clean-energy economy,” Inslee said.

Despite the rain, western Washington has an excellent climate for solar power production, Shaver said. It’s a popular misconception that solar panels work best in hot, dry sites.

“Our spring, summer and fall are spectacular for generating energy,” Shaver said.

By Michelle Dunlop, HeraldNet – http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091021/BIZ/710219982/1005

Economy’s clouds can’t dim Hillsboro’s quest for solar firms October 20, 2009

The City of Hillsboro has not cut back on its quest for an expanded local solar industry presence.

Mayor Jerry Willey and Economic Development Director John Southgate joined other members of Team Oregon in attending the 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, which opened in Hamburg, Germany, Sept. 21. Their mission was to nurture contacts begun during prior conferences and initiate new ones.

This was the first solar-focused European trip for the pair, both of whom are part of “a new generation” in Hillsboro administration. Former mayor Tom Hughes, accompanied by Larry Pederson, now retired head of economic development, and Assistant City Manager Rob Dixon had attended the Photovoltaic Technology Show 2008 Europe in Munich, Germany, as part of that Team Oregon delegation.

Willey said it’s hard to grasp the immense size of these European trade shows, which in familiar U.S. terms could only be compared to the COMDEX computer exposition at the height of its popularity in the late 1980s.

“Think of the (Portland) Home and Garden Show at the Convention Center – times seven,” Willey said of the European solar conference. “John and I were assigned one venue with 38 booths.” Each had been previously identified as having some sort of Oregon connection, perhaps as simple as having been contacted in the past by the state’s team, he said. Covering such a vast assignment took a toll: Willey estimated they easily averaged 5 miles a day as they fanned out to cover their assignments. It was “so huge you could be easily overwhelmed by the number of products,” he said.

On Sept. 22, Team Oregon hosted its own dinner for businesses that had expressed an interest in locating in the state. About 50 delegates came. “I was encouraged,” Southgate said. “Oregon has a good reputation.”

He might have added “and little U.S. competition” at the show. New York was the only other U.S. state with a presence there.

The economic downturn is influencing the solar industry’s expansion plans, but a complete freeze is unlikely. According to Southgate, many companies contacted at the conference said they could see coming to America in the next two to five years, but virtually none said they were planning on establishing a presence now.

Before heading to Hamburg for the conference, Willey and Southgate spent a few days in Freiburg, Germany, to visit SolarWorld AG’s operations. “We want SolarWorld to understand we value our relationship extremely,” Southgate said.

The company reciprocated and hosted a dinner in a local castle.

Both Southgate and Willey were impressed with the creativity Freiburg had shown in implementing solar projects. The city had decommissioned a very old landfill, Willey said. Its land was not stable enough to support buildings. “So the city put a huge solar array on it,” he said.

Southgate expects this sort of project to become common, worldwide. “The solar industry is evolving and expanding. It’s going to be much, much bigger than it is now,” he said.

Susan Gordanier, The Hillsboro Argus – http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/index.ssf?/base/news/1256061037277150.xml&coll=6

Chinese solar company to build plant in Gresham October 18, 2009

A Chinese solar component manufacturer plans to build its first U.S. plant in Gresham.

Oregon Crystal Technologies is looking at two sites in the Rockwood-West Gresham Urban Renewal District, said Janet Young, Gresham’s director of development services.

The firm has applied for a $100,000 grant, which the City Council — sitting as the urban renewal commission — will consider tonight.

The grant application lists two 10,000-square-foot properties in the urban renewal district: the Rockwood Corporate Center and the Sandy Boulevard Business Park.

The city has been wooing the solar industry, and Mayor Shane Bemis held discussions with company officials during a recent trip to a trade show in Germany.

“It’s good news,” Young said. “Any new company is good news. But when it is a targeted industry, it’s particularly good news.”

The company expects to invest $2 million to $4 million, beginning with 10 jobs and growing to 20 jobs, she said.

The firm, known as China Crystal Technologies in Beijing, aims to become one of the world’s leading companies in gallium arsenide, an alternative technology to silicon in solar panels, according to the company’s Web site.

James Mayer, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/chinese_solar_company_to_build.html

SolarWorld expands into module manufacturing October 5, 2009

SolarWorld unveiled its new 210,000-square-foot Hillsboro manufacturing space Sunday, announcing for the first time that the addition will host 350 megawatts of module manufacturing capacity.

With the news, the German company’s Hillsboro operations become the only monocrystalline solar manufacturing plant in the U.S. that produces every phase of solar panel manufacturing, said spokesman Ben Santarris.

The new building gives SolarWorld a 44 percent increase in building space and is adjacent to the company’s main 480,000-square-foot main manufacturing facility it opened just a year ago.

The Hillsboro facility up until now focused only on turning polysilicon into solar wafers and power-generating cells.

With the new building, the Hillsboro facility now adds the third and final step, in which the photovoltaic cells are strung and soldered together into a glass-covered laminate and placed into a metal frame.

Until now, SolarWorld’s only U.S. module-making facility was in Camarillo, Calif., where it has 150 megawatts of capacity.

SolarWorld is in the process of putting together a management team and work force to staff the new factory. The new building, however, hasn’t increased the company’s previously-stated goal of employing 1,000 workers by 2011.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/09/28/daily62.html

State OKs Kittitas County ‘innovation zone’ October 5, 2009

Kittitas County has gained the status of a state-recognized Innovation Partnership Zone, and those organizing the effort say much more hard work is now needed to attract renewable energy companies, research firms and new jobs to the county.

A local public-private partnership, called the Central Washington Resource Energy Collaborative, was contacted Tuesday by state officials and informed the county has been officially designated as an Innovation Partnership Zone, or IPZ.

The approval of the collaborative’s application came from the state Department of Commerce, formally the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

Goal of the local partnership of university, government, economic development interests and power companies is to recruit renewable-power firms, projects and research to the county and operate a research and business development center, possibly at Bowers Field.

“They said we had a very strong application and were impressed with the quality of partnerships we had built,” said Ron Cridlebaugh, executive director of the Economic Development Group (EDG) of Kittitas County, one of the partner-groups. “Now we need to roll up our sleeves do the hard work to make our goals into reality.”

Other local partners are Kittitas County government, Central Washington University, Puget Sound Energy and the international wind-power development firm of enXco Inc.

In past comments, the local community partners indicated they have committed a total of $1.2 million in financial support and in-kind services during the next three years for the effort.

Gaining the state’s IPZ status helps give the county recognition as an area of emerging research and business in ongoing solar, wind and other renewable and resource-based power development.

The state zones are designed to stimulate industry “clusters of growth” within specific geographic areas, much like a research park, according to the local partnership.

Eleven other IPZs already exist in the state.

The partnership will meet this week to begin refining its goals and business plan, Cridlebaugh said, including specifying what exact areas of renewable energy research and business the partnership wants to cater to.

Cridlebaugh said the partnership is exploring using an existing, secured government loan and a grant to build a second, 10,000-square-foot multi-purpose industrial/business building at Bowers Field and use part of the facility for the renewable energy research and business development center.

He said the struggling economy put a hold on the immediate construction of the building because potential “anchor” business tenants were reluctant to sign leases in the current business climate.

Cridlebaugh said renewable energy firms, currently moving ahead in project development nationally, could be attracted to the facility and the county.

Kittitas County Commissioner Paul Jewell on Tuesday said he was “absolutely thrilled” with this “first, essential yet momentous step” in gaining the IPZ status.

“Our (the partners’) motivation is to plan for a prosperous economic future for the county,” Jewell said. “We are going to take advantage of this and work to attract firms that support renewable energy services and professional research.”

Jewell said the partnership envisions the county becoming “the heartbeat of the Pacific Northwest, and even the nation, for renewable and resource-based energy technology development.”

He said the formation of the partnership and the IPZ approval in the span of about 90 days were “unprecedented” initial steps for the county to bring new, diversified business to the county.

CWU President James Gaudino, in a statement, said gaining IPZ status reflects the commitment of the different partners to work together.

“It’s my hope that (the) project will build on the already strong relationship between our community and the university,” Gaudino wrote. “I offer my congratulations to all involved in the application process, including our county government, business partners, university staff, and community leaders.

“It was a true team effort.”

MIKE JOHNSTON, Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/09/30/news/doc4ac3a14a28f05353027250.txt

South Korean company to manufacture solar cells and modules in Eugene September 26, 2009

A South Korean company called Uni-Chem plans to buy the shuttered Hynix semiconductor plant in Eugene and make solar cells and modules, hiring about 1,000 people.

The deal will be welcome news in Lane County, which suffers 12.7 percent unemployment after losing more than 12,000 jobs in a year. The venture also solidifies Oregon’s status as a renewable-energy center, capitalizing on the region’s expertise making silicon computer chips.

Uni-Chem, a leather manufacturer hopping aboard the solar bandwagon, is acquiring the plant from South Korea-based Hynix for $50 million, according to Hankyung Economic News, a Seoul publication. Hynix, which has not confirmed the deal, closed the plant a year ago, putting 1,400 people out of work.

Uni-Chem plans to produce enough solar cells each year in Eugene to generate a gigawatt of power, said Roger Little, chief executive of Spire Corp., a Uni-Chem-affiliated company in Massachusetts. That’s more than twice the planned capacity of SolarWorld’s expanding 160-megawatt plant in Hillsboro, which was also converted from a structure built as a chip factory.

Little says his firm is working with Uni-Chem to design a factory for the Hynix building.

“They purchased the building, and we’re laying it out,” said Little, adding that the investment will increase. “To go the distance, it’s going to be like a billion dollars to do a gigawatt. For that, you’re talking 1,000 jobs maybe.”

U.S. local-content requirements drive Uni-Chem to hire Americans, Little said, instead of manufacturing abroad as Chinese solar companies do. Ultimately Uni-Chem could also make solar wafers in Eugene, he said, but will begin by buying them from suppliers.

Uni-Chem representatives met with Oregon officials this week at a solar conference in Hamburg, Germany, to discuss potential subsidies, Little said. SolarWorld and other green companies have received tax credits and other government support.

Uni-Chem is also applying for a federal investment tax credit for the Eugene operation under the federal stimulus program, Little said. The South Korean company’s jump into solar, which includes the purchase and conversion of a Spire chip plant into a solar factory in New Hampshire, comes as companies worldwide rush into renewables.

Analysts expect the solar industry to consolidate. But for now, expertise from a wide spectrum of industries spurs innovation, said Glenn Harris, chief executive of SunCentric Inc., a Grants Pass consultancy.

Uni-Chem, based in Ansan-si,  South Korea, is one of the Asian nation’s biggest leather fabricators, with $75 million in annual sales. The 35-year-old company changed its name in 2000 from Shinjin Leather Industrial Co., a trendy move that boosted its stock 24 percent.

Deal in works

Hankyung Economic News recently interviewed Lee Ho-chan, Uni-Chem chief executive officer, who said his company found about 20 former chip factories in the United States for sale due to the semiconductor oversupply.

“Uni-Chem is in the process of acquiring two former semiconductor sites, including the Hynix Eugene fab in Oregon,” said the chief executive, who goes by Daniel Lee in the West.

A Uni-Chem employee in Ansan-si said Friday that the deal was proceeding. She said details were available from a company representative in New York, who did not return phone calls.

Bobby Lee, a Hynix Semiconductor Manufacturing America communications officer in Eugene, declined to comment.

Earlier, Tim McCabe, Oregon Business Development Department director, had said an unidentified potential buyer faced a deadline Wednesday for a $2 million down payment on the Hynix plant. On Friday, McCabe, whose agency originally referred the potential purchaser to Hynix, would not say whether the company was Uni-Chem.

Little has sent engineers to check out the plant. They determined that a solar-cell line could go into the third floor.

“The lower floors need some modification,” Little said. “I understand associated with it is more property, so they could actually put up another building if they want to.”

The additional building could produce wafers, he said, which are processed into cells.

Relationship to Spire

Little’s company, Spire Corp., provides production lines and equipment to make solar cells and modules worldwide. Earlier this month, Uni-Chem agreed to buy 51 percent of the equity shares of Spire Solar Systems, a Spire Corp. affiliate, for $15.3 million.

Spire Solar Systems has modules sales contracts potentially worth $160 million. It plans to provide solar production lines to federal prisons, where inmates could get training and experience.

Uni-Chem is also acquiring Spire’s chip plant in Hudson, N.H., for $62 million. Part of that fabrication facility, or fab, will become a solar factory.

“By the end of next year,” Lee told Hankyung, “two formal fabs are transformed into photovoltaic cell/module production sites. Uni-Chem will develop into a major company in the U.S. photovoltaic market.”

As Uni-Chem branches out, Hynix America’s parent company in South Korea struggles. Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s No. 2 memory-chip maker behind Samsung Electronics, may end up in the hands of Hyosung, a medium-size fiber and chemicals firm.

Industry analysts express skepticism over the bid by Hyosung. They note its weak cash flow and lack of high-tech focus.

But in a land of conglomerates, where a leather company can go solar, almost anything’s possible.

Richard Read, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/09/korean_solar_company_buys_euge.html

Railroad helps build biofuel facility in Tri-Cities September 25, 2009

A sister company of Tri-City & Olympia Railroad Co. has signed an agreement with Gen-X Energy Group to build a new facility in Richland to make biofuel.

The new facility will sit on land owned by the sister company called 10 North Washington Avenue in the Horn Rapids Industrial Park, said Rydel Peterson, vice president of the short-line railroad company.

“We’ve agreed to work together to develop the property,” Peterson said, adding the details of the project including the size, cost and financing for the building are still being worked out.

The company 10 North Washington Avenue is owned by Peterson’s father, Randy, according to the state Secretary of State’s website.

The proposed plant also will include a facility to store raw materials and finished fuel, Rydel Peterson said.

Gen-X, which lost its Burbank biodiesel plant to a fire in early July, couldn’t be reached about the agreement. The company’s website says Gen-X is not going out of business and that it continues to produce and deliver certified biodiesel to its clients.

Gen-X will benefit from using the short-line service and access to both BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad, Peterson said.

For Tri-City & Olympia Railroad Co., which previously transported raw materials to Gen-X’s Burbank plant, the new agreement is an extension of its old business relationship, Peterson said.

The talks between the two companies have been going on for a while now, he said. The move was partly prompted by his company’s ongoing legal battle with BNSF about track use rights on 16 miles of track extending from Kennewick to Richland.

The track is owned by the Port of Benton and leased to Tri-City & Olympia Railroad Co. through 2032 for moving freight.

BNSF recently ended its partnership with the short-line railroad and began providing services directly to customers along the Richland track.

“We’ve lost about 40 percent of our revenue,” Peterson said. The company also laid off 17 of its 32 employees in the last three weeks, he said.

Pratik Joshi, Tricity Herald – http://www.tri-cityherald.com/business/story/728495.html

Solar company looks at Nampa for new plant September 19, 2009

A German solar power company is expected to decide within weeks whether to bring 700 jobs to Nampa.

Nampa is one of two finalists being considered for the solar manufacturing plant, said Boise Valley Economic Partnership Executive Director Paul Hiller. The company is looking at the 200,000-square-foot building that used to house MPC Computers for a plant that could grow employment up to 1,200.

The unnamed company isn’t the only solar company interested in Nampa. A domestic solar panel manufacturer also is evaluating whether to build its own plant in the area, Hiller said.

“We’re in the final two with the German company and in the final four with the other project,” Hiller said.

Idaho Power has enough generating capacity to meet the needs of both companies, Hiller said.

“Power is an advantage, because rates are fairly low here,” he said.

Representatives from a number of solar companies have been in the Treasure Valley this summer, and business leaders are optimistic that at least one might come here.

Micron Technology owns the MPC building and is considering going into the business of manufacturing solar panels itself. The technology is similar to the microchip manufacturing process Micron has used in its Treasure Valley facilities.

The German company would not say what other state or community is in the running.

“They were hoping to make a decision by now,” Hiller said. ” I think they’d like to move as quick as possible.”

Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman - http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/905099.html

Wage claims hit Eugene solar startup September 19, 2009

Centron Solar, a solar panel startup in Eugene, recently paid the $1,111 wage claim filed in early August with the state by former intern Paul Hughes-Rod, who said the company had used him for unpaid labor, not as an intern.

Then, in late August, a second intern, Edward Hart, filed a $2,300 wage claim with the state Bureau of Labor and Industries, saying that he had been “unjustly taken advantage of” while serving as an unpaid intern and sales representative for Centron Solar. He said that he had “performed the duties of a paid professional under the guise of an internship.”

Centron Solar declines to comment about personnel issues, said Pat Walsh, a public relations consultant to the solar company.

Hart withdrew his wage complaint earlier this week, saying that under his agreement with Centron, he was due not an hourly wage, but rather a commission of 3 percent to 5 percent on any sales he closed or leads he generated that resulted in sales.

Hart told The Register-Guard on Friday that he plans to pursue legal action against Centron, based on his sales representative agreement.

In his Aug. 27 complaint with the state Bureau of Labor and Industries, Hart said that he worked for Centron an average of five hours a week from June 29 to July 29. He said his internship ended abruptly on July 29, and he was told that his sales leads had not generated any sales.

Hart came to Centron with a University of Oregon political science degree and eight years’ experience in airline ground operations.

Hart said he was told that the internship would lead to a full-time salaried position by the end of July or August.

Hart said he spent most of his internship corresponding with customers and potential customers and providing product and design specifications for various solar projects.

He said he also helped assemble a state-by-state database of customer contacts and of available clean energy subsidies, conducted research on North American Free Trade Association policy and other import-export matters, and drove a forklift in Centron’s warehouse.

“On a whim, we were just thrown so many new tasks. We were going so many different directions. We were literally slaving away for them,” he said.

Hart recalled being asked to research a solar project in French Polynesia. He said he was analyzing wind patterns and figuring out from what direction typhoons hit the island, so he could decide on racking and mounting systems for the solar modules.

“All of a sudden I’m a geologist and structural engineer, and I guess an electrical engineer,” Hart said. “There was no instruction. It was just, ‘Go do it.’ ”

The other unpaid intern, Hughes-Rod, said in his wage claim that during his unpaid internship from July 6 to July 29 he generated hundreds of sales leads, conducted research and marketing, set up PCs and installed software, and completed other work for the company.

Centron is a consortium of 30 Chinese solar companies, including solar panel manufacturers, Walsh said. Due to nondisclosure agreements, the company does not release the names of the companies. Centron officials have not disclosed how the company is financed.

Centron opened its office/warehouse in west Eugene in July, with a plan to sell bargain-priced solar panels in the United States. It has six employees in Eugene, consultants and partners working for the company in China, and 35 sales representatives throughout the United States, Walsh said.

The company is aiming to hire 300 people in Eugene in the next few years, he said.

Sherri Buri McDonald, The Register-Guard – http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/business/20365559-41/story.csp

Suntech: Oregon solar market is too small September 12, 2009

The decision by Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. not to locate its U.S. solar panel manufacturing plant in Oregon came down to the region’s comparably small market for solar energy products.

Steve Chadima, vice president of external affairs in publicly held Suntech’s U.S. operations, said China-based Suntech has narrowed its site locations to Phoenix and sites in Texas.

“I think Oregon folks did a great job of providing an attractive package,” he said, “but we’ve got such large local markets in those two locations already.”

On top of the regional market sizes, Arizona, like Oregon, is adjacent to California, which has historically been the country’s largest market for solar energy products. And Suntech is already working on a 30 megawatt solar farm in Texas, Chadima said.

Chadima in May confirmed that Oregon had not only been in the running for a plant, but said the state was one of the company’s most aggressive suitors.

The plant could have been a boon for Oregon’s fast-growing solar manufacturing sector. Suntech is the world’s largest manufacturer of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules.

Portland Business Journal - http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/09/07/daily23.html

XSunX drops $50M plan in Wood Village, OR September 12, 2009

The CEO of a once-promising solar company is furious at state lawmakers for rejecting a tax break and has abandoned plans to build a manufacturing plant in Wood Village.

Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based XSunX Inc. arrived in Portland in 2007 with plans to open a 90,000-square-foot plant to make thin-film solar modules with an initial capacity of 25 megawatts.

The company planned to grow to a capacity of 33 megawatts and 150 workers, leasing a facility owned and recently vacated by Merix Corp.

CEO Tom Djokovich said the company had nearly $50 million in financing lined up to outfit the plant and was awaiting state approval for its Business Energy Tax Credit application.

Erik Siemers, Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/09/14/story1.html

Looking for a biofuels breakthrough in Boardman, Ore. September 5, 2009

On paper, making fuel from plant materials looks like a simple five-step process.

You start with a bundle of twigs. Separate the cellulose, add enzymes, then let the brew ferment. A couple of chemical processes later, you’re powering a car with a product that quite literally grows on trees.

In reality, large-scale ethanol production has only rarely been able to compete with the cost of a barrel of oil. And with the recent recession, the dream of cheap, renewable fuel seems even further from reach.

But former oil executive Jim Imbler, who now heads a Colorado biofuels company called ZeaChem Inc., thinks he might have found the key to profitability in Oregon.

And it lies in Boardman, home to one of the nation’s largest hybrid poplar tree farms, grown by Portland-based GreenWood Resources.

“We’ve done the math, and we can compete with $40- to $50-a-barrel crude oil,” said Imbler, based in Lakewood, Colo. “We’re really excited to get going in Oregon.” Backed by $40 million in venture capital, ZeaChem plans to build a demonstration plant in Boardman that will convert Oregon hybrid poplar trees, grass and agricultural waste into ethanol.

Using an innovative technology, the biorefinery could mean a breakthrough for the biofuels industry, on a quest to meet federal mandates for alternative fuels.

Experts believe cellulose, found in nearly every plant, tree and bush, may be the future for abundant, affordable ethanol. And Oregon, with its vast tree farms, forests and farmlands, is poised to be a field of dreams for the industry, recently criticized for relying too heavily on corn, pitting food resources against fuel.

“Corn is a very energy intensive crop,” said Rick Wallace, the state’s biofuels coordinator. “Biomass has a smaller carbon footprint, and we have a lot of it here. There are a lot of benefits for Oregon if we can develop these technologies.”

By the end of the year, ZeaChem plans to break ground on a five-acre site owned by the Port of Morrow. It hopes its tests, using eastern Oregon wheat straw and trimmings from the Umatilla National Forest, will eventually lead to a commercial plant that pumps out up to 50 million gallons of ethanol a year.

But like many biofuels entrepeneurs on a sprint to the next generation, ZeaChem is gambling on the unknown. Across the Northwest, corn ethanol plants that attracted millions of dollars in public and private investment now stand idle.

By all accounts, ZeaChem’s technology looks promising.

“(Their technology) has a very big potential,” Wallace said. “But can it be done at a commercial level economically? We don’t know these answers yet. If they do, it’s a real benefit to Oregon. “

Links to Oregon
Dozens, if not hundreds, of companies are racing toward cellulosic ethanol production, which must meet a federal mandate of 16 billion gallons by 2022.

ZeaChem’s secret weapon: a bacterium found in the guts of termites. The bacterium, acetogen, ferments cellulose into acetic acid, which can eventually be turned into ethanol.

The company’s demonstration plant, unlike some other technologies, will use a variety of plant materials, producing about 1.5 million gallons of ethanol a year.

“We can feed softwood trees, hardwood trees, corn cobs,” Imbler said. “If you think about a termite, it doesn’t really care. Our vision is to become a technological skunkworks.”

ZeaChem, with 30 employees and a lab in California, says its patented process offers higher yields at lower cost, with a lower carbon footprint than other methods. The bacterium can also be used to make another, more valuable chemical, ethyl acetate, a solvent in varnishes and lacquers. It enables the development of other lines of business, turning plant material into solvents for paints or chemicals used in plastics.

“We believe ZeaChem is the leading advanced biofuel company,” said Paul Batcheller, a partner in South Dakota-based PrairieGold Venture Partners, a major investor in ZeaChem. “One thing is that their yields translates to a huge economic advantage. I think Oregon has a great advantage in terms of feedstock and marketing the project.”

Oregon offers fertile ground for the company’s giant leap. For starters, the state may provide a financial sweetner: ZeaChem has applied for the state’s Business Energy Tax Credits, which would be worth about $6.5 million.

Another key reason for locating in Oregon: proximity to GreenWood Resources, which owns the 26,000-acre hybrid poplar tree farm in Boardman. The company also owns 6,000 acres near Clatskanie and accounts for 90 percent of the state’s poplar production.

“We love hybrid poplar because its the best deal we can find now,” Imbler said. “If you have something that can grow cheaper, faster, we’re all for it. But I think the hybrid poplar is hard to beat.”

When it comes to growing trees fast and inexpensively, GreenWood Resources is a well-known expert. Its poplars, through traditional breeding methods, can grow 10 to 15 feet each year. The company’s partnership will provide a steady feedstock near the test plant.

“They’re going to need feedstock 24-7 once they get to the commercial level,” said Jake Eaton, GreenWood’s managing director of global acquisitions and resource planning. “We can optimize high yields and produce a low-cost dedicated feedstock.”

Studies show hybrid poplar is a fairly efficient feedstock for cellulosic ethanol. The partnership allows GreenWood to develop trees for a growing market in cellulosic-based chemicals and ethanol.

“From what we can see, they have the best technology out there,” Eaton said.
Recession and risks But making fuel out of plants is not the hard part. After all, scientists over the past year have turned coffee grounds into biodiesel and watermelon rinds into ethanol. Big oil companies are investing billions of dollars into growing algae.

The challenge is to build a commercial plant, which will take lots of plant material and money.

ZeaChem’s project comes at a turbulent time for nation’s ethanol industry, shaken by bankruptcies and failures over the past year. Along with other agricultural industries, biofuels rode the rollercoaster commodities market to its heights last year, only to have prices collapse with the recession.

The fallout from the credit crisis delivered a double punch, freezing access to credit and private capital for new research and construction. Then early this year, oil prices fell, making it difficult for ethanol producers to compete at the pump. So far, all commercial ethanol plants in the U.S. use corn.

“A number of plants misread the commodity markets,” says John Urbanchuk, a Pennsylvania-based expert in agriculture and biofuels with LECG LLC, a global consulting firm. “A lot of people thought that corn prices were going to continue to climb, and they were unable to cover their commodity positions.”

A wave of bankruptices and closures has followed, leaving idle corn ethanol plants and stalled projects across the Northwest.

Cascade Grain LLC, built a $200 million ethanol plant in Clatskanie last year and filed for bankruptcy protection in January. The plant ran for just six months before it was shut down.

In Longview, Wash., Northwest Renewables broke ground on a $100 million corn ethanol plant three years ago. Last week, the company announced the project, on hold for some time, would become a biomass plant with an uncertain timeline.

In Boardman, Pacific Ethanol’s plant continues to pump out 40 million gallons a year, despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. The plant uses mostly corn from the Midwest, said company spokesman Paul Koehler.

Now, however, the prospects might be getting brighter for ethanol. Oil prices have increased, and corn and natural gas prices, the two largest costs in the industry, have fallen.

“The outlook today is brighter than six or seven months ago,” Urbanchuk said. “The profitibility picture looks better.”

The long-term prognosis for the industry is for steady growth, mostly due to government environmental policies that ensure demand for ethanol, in particular, cellulosic ethanol. Unlike corn, biomass holds the promise of greater efficiency, and it doesn’t compete for food resources.

For 2009, federal mandates require production of 11 billion gallons of biofuel, of which 100 million gallons which must come from no-corn feedstock. By 2022, cellulosic ethanol must make up nearly half of the government’s required 36 billion gallons of biofuels.

“The industry responded quickly to demand, and now we’re seeing demand and supply move into balance,” said Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Washington-DC- based Renewable Fuels Association. “But there’s so much more growth that’s projected, those closed facilities may once again fire up as the economics of the industry improve.”
Implications for Oregon
In Oregon, the push for renewable fuel and energy has big economic implications. Many parties now eye Oregon’s forests for biomass, from wood pellet manufacturers to utility companies. And many others, from foresters to timber fellers to environmentalists, are pinning their hopes on a new, green market for Oregon wood.

Biofuel projects will likely bring new jobs into rural areas hard hit by years of mill closures. And they will put the state on the map in a growing industry.

“We don’t have the corn or the soy the Midwest does,” said Wallace, who works with different state departments in developing biofuels. “We need to get into (cellulosic) biofuels, if we’re going to play. I think we’re going to see more projects like this.”

In Boardman, ZeaChem’s project will create 75 construction jobs and 20 full-time jobs once the plant is running. If the company builds a commercial plant, dozens more jobs could be added.

“We’re excited about that potential,” said Gary Neal, general manager of the Port of Morrow. “There’s going to be a great utilization of the products and biproducts of the region, good paying jobs. We just see lots of pluses, and it’s good for the environment.”

Beyond jobs, developing local sources of fuel will mean more money stays in the state, Wallace said. In 2008, Oregonians spent $8 billion fueling up their cars and trucks. While some of that money goes toward taxes, most of the money spent on transportation fuels goes out of state.

Ultimately, finding uses for the state’s biomass will be good for the forests, said Mike Cloughesy, director of forestry for the Oregon Forest Resources Institute. The state has about 4.25 million acres capable of providing biomass by forest thinning projects, which would prevent wildfires.

“There is more than enough material to go around,” McCloughesy said. “Anything that makes more markets for biomass creates more opportunities for active forest management.”

Amy Hsuan, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/09/a_looking_for_a_biofuels_break.html

sale imminent for Newberg, Ore. wind power firm August 26, 2009

Wind turbine manufacturer Abundant Renewable Energy (ARE) of Newberg will be purchased by a California-based competitor, according to announcements Monday from both firms.

The San Diego-based Helix Wind has inked non-binding agreements to acquire ARE’s business assets, along with those of fellow Oregon firm Renewable Energy Engineering, for $4 to $6.5 million.

The sale is in fact a welcome move, said Gregory Price, manufacturing representative for ARE.

“The acquisition allows us to focus on research and development, instead of marketing, logistics and other administrative needs,” he said. “Helix is interested in moving their operations to Oregon.”

The two firms have a certain difference in design philosophy — ARE’s windmills have a traditional horizontal axis, while Helix takes its name from the firm’s line of vertical-axis turbines, which resemble larger versions of the “wind catchers” on many porches.

Nonetheless, Helix will continue to market and sell ARE’s line of 2.5 and 10 kilowatt wind turbines as part of its portfolio.

“It’s not a cookie-cutter technology — site evaluation is a big part of wind power’s effectiveness,” Price said, explaining that different models perform better in different settings.

Regardless of the shape of the equipment, wind power and alternative energy is a growing business throughout Oregon. Jobs in the state’s clean energy economy grew nearly seven times faster than overall jobs between 1998 and 2007, according to a detailed study recently released by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The analysis found that between 1998 and 2007, jobs in Oregon’s clean energy economy increased at a rate of 50.7 percent, while overall job growth expanded by 7.5 percent.

“Oregon has more jobs in its clean energy sector, as a share of its overall economy, than any other state,” said Dan Lombardi, Oregon representative for the Pew Environment Group. “Oregon has attracted $70 million in clean technology venture capital in the past three years alone.”

Oregon’s growth in this sector was part of a national trend that saw job growth in the clean energy economy outperforming overall job growth in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Nationally, jobs in the clean energy economy grew at a rate of 9.1 percent while the total number increased by only 3.7 percent over the same period.

In ARE’s case, demand has grown sufficiently that the firm has contracted out much of its manufacturing and assembly to Tualatin manufacturers Powin/QBF, a former parts supplier to Freightliner.

“They have the tools, the people and the experience — but the auto industry isn’t doing so well right now,” Price said, referring to Freightliner’s woes following parent company Chrysler’s bankruptcy.

A significant part of the growth is thanks to federal and state spending that help make such wind power systems (generally costing thousands of dollars) more affordable to residential and commercial property owners.

“There are quite a number of tax credits and grants that can work in conjunction — any Oregon business can get up to 80 percent of the purchase price reimbursed through state and federal sources,” Price said. “People just don’t know that the money is out there.”

Federal and state governments have also provided tax credits to manufacturers such as ARE. While such programs have drawn criticism as “propping up” the clean power industry, “the intent is for the industry to become self-sustaining, without subsidies, within another 10 years,” said Stephen Marx, deputy communications director for local Congressman David Wu (D-1st Dist.). Marx toured ARE Monday with Lombardi and Price.

“Any high-tech industry needed subsidies at first — ours is no different,” said Price, agreeing that the goal was a desirable one. “The demand is there, we just have to make sure our company strategy is sustainable.”

For more information on ARE’s line of products, visit www.abundantre.com. For tax credit information, visit www.eere.energy.gov or www.energytrust.org.

David Sale, Newburg Graphic – http://www.newberggraphic.com/news/2009/August/25/Local.News/newberg.wind.power.firm.sale.imminent/news.aspx

Eugene company to manufacture solar hot water heaters August 25, 2009

A Eugene real estate company is moving forward with plans to build an assembly and storage facility that would include space for a local solar energy company to build low-cost solar water heaters.

RLA Holdings LLC has submitted plans to the city for the two-building project, totaling 27,420 square feet, on a 0.81-acre lot at Third Avenue and Almaden Street.

RLA Holdings is a real estate company owned by Ronald Anderson, who also owns A&K Development Co., which builds food-processing equipment for the corn industry, and Pacific Metal Fab, a metal fabrication company.

David Beede, project manager for RLA Holdings, said one building would be a three-sided, 15,000-square-foot canopy structure used by A&K Development to store its food-­processing equipment. The other, 12,420-square-foot building would be leased to Energy Wise Lighting, which plans to assemble low-cost solar water heaters, as well as to store its lighting fixtures, he said.

He said the project would create 30 to 40 jobs.

Beede said timing of the project is “still open-ended.” He declined to disclose the project’s expected cost.

Energy Wise Lighting officials said last winter that they hoped to start production of the low-cost solar water heaters by this summer. But the company is still working to line up tax credits and test its technology, so it appears production won’t happen until winter, company president Peter Greenberg said Monday.

Energy Wise, which did about $3 million in sales last year, specializes in energy-efficient lighting fixtures for large buildings, including factories, prisons and schools.

Greenberg said earlier this year that his company has installed 50,000 fixtures that save a total of 75 million kilowatt hours a year, a record that won recognition for the company from the Energy Trust of Oregon.

By Tim Christie, The Register-Guard – http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/business/19131514-41/story.csp

Helix may buy Abundant Renewable Energy August 18, 2009

A Newburg manufacturer of small-scale wind turbines may be acquired out of bankruptcy by San Diego-based Helix Wind Corp. in an estimated $6 million deal that could eventually land the combined company in Oregon.

Helix (OTCBB: HLXW) on Tuesday said it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Abundant Renewable Energy LLC, the Newburg company that makes 2.5 kilowatt and 10 kilowatt wind turbines suitable for rural customers with at least an acre of land.

The purchase price will range between $4 million and $6.5 million in cash and restricted Helix stock. The closure of the deal is still contingent upon Helix completing financing by Nov. 1 and approval of the deal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Abundant Renewable Energy filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. At the time, it said it had less than $500,000 in assets, between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities and between 100 and 200 creditors.

Jon Roschke, a customer support representative for Abundant, said the company is scheduled to present its reorganization plan — which includes the proposed acquisition — in bankruptcy court on Thursday.

Helix designs, manufactures and sells a variety of small wind turbines that range from 1kw to 300 watts.

CEO Ian Gardner said in the short-term Abundant — with about 10 employees — would continue to operate as usual. But Gardner said it’s possible that the bulk of Helix’s operations could end up in Oregon, citing the region’s abundance of engineering expertise.

“It’s certainly on the table,” Gardner said. “Certain members of our team are not opposed to relocating to Portland.”

Whether the company will host any manufacturing operations in Oregon is another question.

Abundant manufactures its own turbines on a small scale in Newburg, largely using parts made overseas, Gardner said. Helix, however, manufactures all of its turbines overseas and will eventually shift all manufacturing to Southeast Asia in an effort to keep costs down.

The company would consider manufacturing in Oregon if it finds an operation that meets standards and can compete with Southeast Asia on costs.

“The small wind market is becoming so competitive on cost, that getting a high volume on cost will be a determinant in being a success,” Gardner said.

Helix shares jumped 7 percent in Tuesday to $2.72 per share. It has traded between 1 cent and $60 per share in the past year.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/08/17/daily29.html

Struggling Idaho solar supplier gets trade zone status August 18, 2009

Hoku Scientific Inc., a money-losing supplier of silicon for solar panels with an unfinished plant in southwestern Idaho, won’t have to pay duties on foreign raw materials it eventually plans to send back overseas.

The Hawaiian-based company, which aims to manufacture and sell polysilicon for the solar market at its Pocatello plant, said this favorable ruling by the U.S. Department of Commerce will reduce its costs and help keep it afloat as it scrambles to prop up finances.

Construction at Hoku’s Pocatello plant came to nearly a standstill earlier this year because the company still needs to come up with more than $100 million of its total $390 million cost at a time when funding sources have dried up, CEO Dustin Shindo has said. The company is considering unloading the materials unit that’s building the Idaho facility and has hired Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. to lure potential buyers.

“This ruling helps ensure that our facility will remain globally competitive over time,” Shindo said in a statement.

A duty is a tax on certain products purchased abroad.

Hoku posted a $3 million loss for the fiscal year that ended in March and said two weeks ago it lost nearly $1 million in the three months ended June 30. More than 80 percent of its annual production of polysilicon from Idaho would be exported to China.

Idaho economic development promoters are banking on the Pocatello facility to provide 200 alternative-energy jobs for the region at a time of rising state unemployment.

They’re optimistic this decision granting the Pocatello plant so-called “foreign trade zone status” makes its eventual completion more likely.

“Hoku’s Pocatello plant will not only be a net exporter to China, but thanks to the Commerce Department’s ruling, it will have the ability to compete internationally on a level playing field,” said Gynii Gilliam, who heads the Bannock Development Corp. in Pocatello. “This outcome is not only good for Idaho’s emerging clean energy manufacturing base, but it is good for the U.S. renewable energy industry in general.”

Though many construction workers have been idled at the Pocatello plant, Hoku insists work isn’t completely halted.

For instance, some contractors remain on site so work can start quickly, should financing materialize. Hoku has also said it will continue training its first group of plant operators, hired this June.

The Olymmpian – http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/943075.html

Portland turbine manufacturer to relocate to Denver August 15, 2009

REpower USA Corp., the sales and project management arm of a German wind turbine manufacturer, said Friday that it would relocate its U.S. headquarters from Portland to Denver.

The company plans to maintain a service and parts distribution facility in Portland, but its administrative, sales and project management staff will be moving to Denver, where the company said its office would employ 25 relocating or new employees, and would grow to double that size in a year.

REpower chief executive Steve Dayney said the decision was primarily driven by geography, chiefly the company’s desire to be more centrally located and closer to its newer wind power projects. But REpower is also taking advantage of a new Colorado state income-tax credit that took effect this month for companies that create at least 20 jobs.

Both Colorado and Oregon have made clean tech and sustainability employment the key planks of their economic development strategies. Oregon and the City o Portland did offer a package of incentives to retain the REpower jobs, but Colorado may have been a bit more aggressive, said Patrick Quinton, a business recruitment manager at the Portland Development Commission.

Oregon has successfully landed a number of new solar manufacturers and state and local economic development officials have put a $31.5 million incentive package on the table to retain the North American headquarters of Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer. Vestas has slowed plans to build a new headquarters in Portland because of the economic downturn, however.

Ted Sickenger; The Oregonian - http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/08/portland_turbine_manufacturer.html

Solar giant eyes Oregon May 28, 2009

Oregon has made the list of possible homes for a manufacturing facility for one of the world’s largest makers of solar energy products.

China-based SunTech Power Holdings Inc. last week announced plans to open manufacturing operations in the U.S.

A SunTech executive confirmed that Oregon is not only on the list, but the state has been its most aggressive suitor after paying several visits to executives in China.

“They’ve been pursuing us long before we even made a commitment internally to even build a plant in the U.S.,” said Steve Chadima, vice president of external affairs in publicly-held SunTech’s U.S. operations. Oregon is “pretty much at the top of the list in terms of their aggressiveness.”

by Erik Siemers, Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/05/25/story5.html

Renewable energy manuf. tax break clears key panel in Wash. April 28, 2009

A “skinnied-down” bill that would provide a tax break to manufacturers of solar, wind and other renewable energy equipment who locate in Clark County cleared a major hurdle Friday as the Legislature rushed toward adjournment.

House Bill 2130, sponsored by Rep. Tim Probst, D-Vancouver, passed the Senate Ways and Means Committee Friday morning in a version far different from that of the original bill. It still must survive final House and Senate votes on the state’s 2009-11 operating budget over the weekend.

Probst’s original bill would have given a 50 percent tax credit against the state’s business and occupation tax to any business that developed a renewable energy manufacturing facility in Washington, up to a maximum credit of $20 million.

The annual cost to the state would have been about $30 million.

In the latest version of Probst’s bill, the state’s costs would be capped at $2.5 million annually in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and $5 million annually thereafter.

Probst said he argued successfully that if lawmakers were going to downsize the bill, they should limit the break to companies that locate in Clark County.

“The credit is dedicated to Clark County because we are trying to build a base to make Clark County a major exporter of the components for solar and renewable energy,” he said. “If you look around the world, the places that export barrels of oil are doing really well. In the future, I want us to be a place that exports solar panels and wind turbines.”

The Clark County Economic Development Council wants the tax break so it can compete with other states and countries that are courting solar manufacturers.

Under the scaled-down bill approved by Senate Ways and Means Friday, companies that invest a minimum of $25 million in construction, machinery and equipment for a renewable energy facility would be eligible for two kinds of tax breaks: A two-year deferral of the state sales and use tax, and a credit worth up to 15 percent of their eligible investment against the state business and occupation tax.

Probst said his effort to win passage of HB 2130 has been “a wild ride. We thought it was dead, then it was revived.” Negotiations over the bill reached “the highest levels” of the Legislature, he said.

His measure is one of a handful of tax-break bills that have survived thus far in a session where lawmakers have grappled with how to close a projected $9 billion budget deficit.

Many of those are intended to provide incentives for the development of renewable energy and the use of alternative-fuel vehicles such as electric cars.

BY KATHIE DURBIN, COLUMBIAN – http://www.columbian.com/article/20090425/NEWS02/704259967

Oregon Hedges its Bets By Courting Solar Industry April 20, 2009

With so many commercial industries struggling and unemployment rising Oregon is attempting to regain control over its economy by wooing solar researchers and companies onto its turf – something this state has been very good at in the past. Oregon has worked feverishly to build a reputation as one of America’s top solar hubs, and has tirelessly sought out solar researchers, manufacturers and energy generators over the past five or so years.

When times were good Oregon was able to attract numerous manufacturers, researchers and projects to the state. Now that times have changed, however, it’s unclear whether all the time and money Oregon is investing into courting the solar sector will, in fact, provide a barrier against economic turmoil or sink the state further into depression.

One of Oregon’s latest solar victories comes in the form of a $1.34-million grant for solar energy research that was provided by the Oregon Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Center (Oregon BEST), in conjunction with the Oregon University System, the Oregon State University College of Engineering and the Oregon State University Research Office. The money will be divvied between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, which will use it to create the Photovoltaics Laboratory of the Oregon Support Network for Research and the Oregon Process Innovation Center for Sustainable Solar Cell Manufacturing, respectively. While university research will definitely be a big part of the new laboratory and center, the state is more excited about what it can mean for current and prospective businesses.

“From an industry perspective this investment is tremendous,” said David Kenney, president and executive director of Oregon BEST. “The energy industries play a significant part in the Oregon economy, and from a utilities perspective most of our large utility providers are all thinking about renewable energy.”

Though the facilities will be located on the respective universities’ campuses, the laboratory and research centers will be open to other Oregon-based schools, as well as public and private businesses. “Having access to the equipment and laboratories will be a huge resource for [local businesses],” Kenney said. “If a manufacturing company has a solar cell with a defect it will be able to come into the lab and study it under a variety of conditions.”

Aside from these state-of-the-art facilities, businesses will also have access to university researchers and data, as well as a huge workforce population that is well versed in solar energy research and manufacturing. While the actual equipment will not be available until later this year or early 2010, Kenney noted that businesses still have immediate access to researchers and the workforce pool.

Though it’s too early to tell whether these projects will actually bolster Oregon’s economy one thing is certain – the state could use a boost. The state lost 34,700 non-farming jobs in January and February alone, and boasts the third highest unemployment rate in the country, which currently sits at 10.8 percent.

In addition to the grant money, Oregon is also trying to bolster its reputation as an electric car hub. Gov. Ted Kulongoski has aggressively marketed his state as an automotive-friendly destination by widely promoting two bills that would encourage the manufacturing and selling of electric vehicles in Oregon.

One of the bills would allow electric vehicle manufacturing facilities to become eligible for the Business Energy Tax Credit (referred to as BETC or Betsy), which allows energy-conserving businesses to receive between 35 percent and 50 percent off their total green project costs. The other bill would allow a current hybrid tax credit to transfer to zero-emission vehicles, which the governor is hoping will appeal to electric car manufacturers. So far Kulongoski’s plan has worked. Nissan agreed to introduce its new electric car here in 2010, and Mitsubishi announced plans to partner with the state and Portland General Electric to develop a network of vehicle charging stations that will promote the zero-emission vehicles. The state is still trying to woo Think, a Norway-based electric car company, into establishing its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Portland. Oregon is one of eight U.S. locations that Think is considering.

The state has also successfully swayed a solar electric systems manufacturer into entering the Oregon market. Residential Power Systems, a division of the New York-based SunWize Technologies Distributed Power Group, just decided to open its first branch in Philomath, which is between Eugene and Portland. The company has tapped two local solar industry experts to oversee the new office. It’s also offering residents a discount of $1,000 on any solar electric systems purchased in April.

Staying true to its solar roots, Oregon is also working on a proposal that would create a 71-acre solar energy farm at the Medford Airport, which could potentially power 2,000 homes. The state is hoping to utilize funding from Obama’s stimulus plan for the project.

In previous years Oregon has successfully courted numerous solar powerhouses into its borders that have put the state on the map as a top solar center. In 2008, Solar World USA created North America’s largest photovoltaic panel manufacturing plant in Hillsboro – a move that Germany-based Solar World’s vice president Gordon Brinser said was made possible by Oregon’s many tax credits and willingness to open up their universities’ research facilities.

Although experts believed that the plant could add approximately 1,000 new jobs to Hillsboro over the next three years, much has been made about the tax credits that made this location possible. As previously mentioned, sustainable businesses can apply for Betsy credits in order to alleviate some of the costs associated with going green. Though there’s nothing inherently wrong with Oregon creating a tax credit that should, in theory, drive sustainable companies into the state, many believe a problem does lie within the credit’s pass-through option.

This option allows recipients of the tax credit to sell that credit for cash. What resulted was the sale of $11-million-worth of tax credits by Solar World to Wal-Mart for only $7.3 million. The discount chain can now use these credits over the next five years to offset some of its corporate state income taxes. This will cause Oregon to lose out on substantial income taxes, while Solar World has found a quick way to obtain some cash. In fact, the company has already been approved for another $19.4 million in Betsy credits, which it is again free to sell if it so desires.

Clearly it seems that not all of Oregon’s plans to lure sustainable companies and green-collar jobs have worked out. It is, however, hard to deny that the state hasn’t done a lot to make a name for itself in the solar realm. Oregon has begun six new solar manufacturing projects over the past year and a half, which the state hopes will create 2,000 jobs by 2011. It is also home to the world’s largest wind farm, as well as one of the most impressive biodigesters out there. The biodigester is located at the Oregon Health & Science University’s Center for Health and Healing, and was instrumental in the facility becoming the first of its kind to receive platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. Oregon also has more hybrid car owners per capita than any other state.

In these uncertain times there’s no telling what survival strategies will and will not work – both for Oregon and the rest of the nation. Whether its efforts are fruitful during the downturn or not, Oregon has made it clear that the state takes its investment in solar power seriously.

Nellie Da, NuWire Investor – http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/oregon-hedges-its-bets-by-courting-solar-industry-52854.aspx

Oregon may get electric car plant April 17, 2009

Oregon is one of eight states in consideration for an electric car manufacturing plant that could employ 900 workers.

Representatives from Think North America will visit Portland on Tuesday in an appearance with Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a spokesman confirmed Friday morning.

The Norway-based company announced in March that it’s in discussions with eight states about building a manufacturing plant and technical center for its compact electric car, the Think city.

The plant would initially employ 300 and be capable of producing 16,000 cars per year. It would ultimately grow to 60,000 cars per year and 900 workers, the company said.

The tiny four-seat all-electric car can reach more than 60 mph and travel 112 miles on a single charge, operating either on sodium or lithium-ion batteries, the company claims. It’s designed to have a low carbon footprint and features recyclable plastic body panels and a fully recyclable interior.

Spokesman Brendan Prebo said the company hopes to get the price of the car down to $20,000 after tax incentives, but must reduce the cost of the battery to meet that goal.

U.S. production is expected to start in 2010, with the first-year volume of 2,500 units available to pilot and demonstration projects, the company said.

Thus far, the company has only identified California and Michigan, its North American headquarters, as Oregon’s competition for the plant.

The contest is moving quickly.

Prebo said the company will choose a site in the next couple of months in order to meet its goal of starting production by mid-2010.

That means Think is eyeing existing brownfield sites and preferably a location that has existing and available manufacturing space. Prebo said Think has identified several U.S. sites with existing manufacturing space, but wouldn’t say whether any of those were in Oregon.

Kulongoski has put a target on the fast-rising electric vehicle industry and hopes to cement Oregon’s reputation as an early adopter of the technology.

Already Portland holds the oft-cited record of having the most hybrid-fuel vehicles per capita of any city in the nation.

Portland General Electric Co. earlier this year began installing electric vehicle charging stations throughout its service station. And the state Department of Transportation earlier this week began soliciting bids for electric charging manufacturers, the first solicitation of its kind in the nation.

Kulongoski and Sen. Ron Wyden will join Think CEO Richard Canny for a test drive of a Think city vehicle Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. the World Trade Center building, next to PGE’s electric charging station at 121 S.W. Salmon Street.

Portland Business Journal – http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/03/30/daily53.html

Ore. right to be cautious with XsunX March 11, 2009

It is, of course, disappointing that solar manufacturer XsunX did not qualify for tax credits from the state or Oregon — and that the California-based company won’t immediately proceed with the full-blown plans it had for a solar-component plant in Wood Village.

We cannot argue, however, with the caution exercised by the state Department of Economic and Community Development as it decides whether to award valuable Business Energy Tax Credits to alternative-energy companies. Taxpayers, certainly, will hold the state accountable for its decisions and they expect the state to investigate thoroughly the viability of any company that asks to receive benefits that ultimately will be funded by everyone who pays taxes.

XsunX caused a positive ripple of news when it announced last year that it would move into the facility being vacated by Merix Corp., which closed its Wood Village manufacturing operations. XsunX would have been — and may yet be — the first solar company to land in East County and give a boost to this area’s dream of becoming an industrial hub for solar and other alternative energies.

But while we were among those eagerly anticipating XsunX’s promise of high-quality jobs and investment, we see no evidence the company was treated unfairly by the state process for tax credits.

Under the law approved by the 2008 Legislature establishing a tax-credit program for manufacturers of renewable-energy equipment, companies must meet reasonable standards in order to qualify. Among those requirements are the following:

• The company must show it is in the right business — one that manufactures renewable-energy equipment.

• The company must meet minimum standards for new employment.

• The company must demonstrate financial viability and the likelihood of long-term success.

• And the tax credits must be a major factor in a company’s decision of whether to locate in Oregon.

From what has been disclosed about XsunX’s negotiations with the state, it would appear that it was the question of financing and long-term viability that tripped up the deal.

We have absolutely no inside knowledge of the company’s financial status, but it’s no secret that in the economy of today it is exceedingly difficult for even the most established corporations to find the financing they need to expand, or just to meet normal obligations. The state is correct to be conservative in assessing whether a company that will receive tax assistance also will be a long-term asset to Oregon’s economy.

Our hope is that XsunX still can be a contributor to East County’s future economic success. Company officials say they will return to state officials with a scaled-back proposal to receive tax credits in return for creating new jobs in Wood Village.

This is an important industry for Oregon. The state recognizes that fact, or it wouldn’t have developed the tax-credit program. But, as the XsunX example demonstrates, applying such a program in practice cannot be a simple process if taxpayers’ interests are to be given full consideration.

The Gresham Outlook – http://www.theoutlookonline.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=123673515614771200

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The following NW Renewable News links are related to this story:
http://nwrenewablenews.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/greshman-or-pursues-solar-manufacturing-companies/

http://nwrenewablenews.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/xsunx-solar-one-step-awat-from-manufucturing-in-wood-village-ore/

http://nwrenewablenews.wordpress.com/2009/02/28/state-denies-xsunx-solars-enery-tax-credit-request/

Eugene company to manufaturer low-Cost solar hot water heaters February 24, 2009

Eugene may be the scene of a new wave of home solar water heating, if one local manufacturing company succeeds with its expansion plans.

Energy Wise Lighting of west Eugene is hoping to start production of a locally made low-cost solar hot water system as early as this summer.

“It wouldn’t take us long to get going,” company president Peter Greenberg said Monday.

Greenberg’s firm — with $3 million in annual sales — specializes in energy-efficient lighting fixtures for large buildings, including factories, prisons and schools.

Greenberg said the firm has installed 50,000 fixtures that save a total of 75 million kilowatt hours a year, a record that won recent recognition for the company from the Energy Trust of Oregon.

The lighting installations were spurred by tax credits and utility incentives that are meant to encourage a decrease in energy use, Greenberg said.

“Oregon is probably the best place in the country to do energy-efficient lighting. And Eugene is probably the best place in Oregon,” he said. “Many times, between the EWEB incentive and the state tax credit, it covers 100 percent of the (lighting) cost, so if you haven’t put in energy-efficient lighting in Eugene, you’re crazy.”

The incentives are helping Energy Wise Lighting weather the recession.

“Last year was the first year where it really wasn’t slow all year. It just never slowed down. Some days you kind of scratch your head but everybody has got lights and everybody wants to save,” Greenberg said.

But now Greenberg is looking to diversify his eight-­person company by taking it back to the future. He started out in the early 1980s with an Albany firm that made and installed 1,600 SunFlame solar water heaters. He left the water heater business after 1986, when the federal government canceled its tax credits for solar energy.

Greenberg recently decided to revisit his old pursuit after Oregon adopted a 50 percent tax credit — for up to $40 million — for renewables manufacturing initiatives.

A recent trip to China to source a cord for his lighting systems also made an impression.

“Over there, everybody has got solar water heaters,” he said. “If the Chinese can afford this stuff why can’t we do it?”

Solar hot water systems heat the water through absorbing heat energy directly from the sun. They don’t, first, use photovoltaic cells to generate electricity — and so they’re much less costly.

Greenberg figures that he can sell his proposed solar water heating systems for about $4,000. The buyer can get $2,800 in state and federal tax credits. And the homeowner outlay will be recouped within four years through energy savings, he said.

There are some green incentives in the federal stimulus package, but Greenberg doesn’t know yet whether it will help businesses such as his. “Who knows if it will dribble down to us, but obviously energy efficiency is a big word these days,” he said.

Greenberg said he’ll meet in the next week with the Oregon Energy Department to talk about whether his proposed system will meet state specifications. A requirement for testing in a federal laboratory would mean a delay, because the labs are running an 18 month backlog.

“They could say, ‘Sure. We’ll approve whatever testing you have,” Greenberg said. “They’re thinking of having provisional approval because the waiting list is so long.”

Energy Wise’s proposed hot water tanks and their mounting systems would be manufactured by the metal fabrication companies next door, which are owned by Ronald Anderson.

Anderson’s companies already fabricate Energy Wise’s lighting systems, bus parts for a Los Angeles transit district, and corn husker machines that are sold in 28 countries around the globe.

Anderson’s businesses — A&K Development and Pacific Metal Fab — also have proved recession-resistant, said General Manager Troy Vitus.

Sales of Anderson’s corn husking equipment — invented and produced locally since the 1970s — continue to be strong, he said.

“People have to eat. Corn is one of the least-expensive items. They’re doing ethanol and everything else (with corn), so it helps our business,” Vitus said.

Anderson’s companies and Energy Wise Lighting maintain a symbiotic relationship. Energy Wise Lighting leases factory space from Anderson, and Energy Wise buys parts from Anderson’s companies.

“They are a very sharp machine shop,” Greenberg said. “We say ‘Here’s what we want’ and ‘poof’ they design it.”

Anderson plans to build a 15,000-square-foot industrial building to house Energy Wise’s new and continuing operations.

The new building, at Third Avenue and Almaden Street, is across Chambers Street from the Energy Wise’s current operation.

By Diane Dietz, The Register-Guard – http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/business/8278368-41/story.csp

China’s solar boom could dim Oregon’s efforts February 22, 2009

With cheap labor and rapid production, China's promise of solar rooftops at bargain-basement prices casts a shadow over Oregon's ambition of becoming a world leader in alternative energy In a hollow factory so new it smells of plaster, Lynn Sha's lone assembly line is laying the groundwork for a global solar eclipse.

Every five hours, a silicon-coated panel rolls out of QS Solar, a company just eight months in the business. Sha, a stylish twentysomething vice president, expects within months to pump out enough panels for a quarter-million households.

Never mind that until last year, QS Solar was QS Latex, a glove manufacturer with no experience making silicon anything.

“Soon, we’ll be able to sell to our customers for just $1 per watt,” says Sha, crossing the floor in towering heels. Little does Sha know her sky-high ambitions threaten to cast a shadow as far as Oregon.

At a buck-a-watt, solar — the world’s most expensive energy — would beat today’s cheapest power, coal-fired electricity. That would pave the industry’s way to the rooftops of the masses, giving it a surefire edge in the world’s race for affordable clean energy.

And, with next-to-nothing overhead and abundant cheap labor, Chinese companies are almost sure to get there first. More than any others, China’s factories hold the promise of delivering solar energy at Wal-Mart prices, spawning a glut of panels worldwide.

But their zeal could dim Oregon’s own solar boom, the pillar of the state’s hope for economic recovery. Oregon officials are betting big with taxpayer dollars to snag solar manufacturers and their pledge of high employment — just as global prices are expected to plunge.

“I see more overcapacity coming out of Asia than anywhere else,” says Christopher Dymond, a senior energy analyst with the Oregon Department of Energy. “We will see quite a few companies go out of business.”

Over the past decade, China’s unprecedented rise has elicited awe from across the world while stoking fears among competitors. There’s little question that the world’s fastest-developing nation means new possibilities for Oregon: New wealth in the most populous nation germinates demand for Oregon fruit, trees and nursery products. The government’s enormous cleanup efforts open doors for Oregon’s green experts. High-tech companies reap higher profits with a Chinese work force, reinvesting in American technology.

China’s global shadow at times becomes a spotlight. A nation that not long ago seemed exotic and distant now looms close enough to shape Oregon’s economy during a time of crisis and opportunity.

Booms and busts

Even with its damp climate, Oregon has appeal for the solar industry. California, the nation’s biggest solar customer, is right next door. Oregon also boasts a high-tech work force with expertise in silicon, the essential ingredient to turn sunlight into electricity.

Its biggest sell: millions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize solar companies, expected to create thousands of jobs in the coming years. So far, the state has snagged photovoltaic giant SolarWorld, which unveiled the nation’s largest solar plant, in Hillsboro, and other brands, including Sanyo and Solaicx.

But Oregon’s much-hyped foray comes just after a historic boom for solar. With concerns over global warming and oil prices driving big investments in clean energy, worldwide production of solar products exploded by an average of 48 percent a year starting in 2002.

Venture capital poured in. Germany and Spain doled out incentives to consumers. Solar companies basked in a record $15.9 billion in profit in 2008.

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered. Germany and Spain cut consumers off. Tightened credit markets blocked financing for costly systems. Analysts predict that a stockpile of modules worldwide will drive prices down by 20 to 30 percent.

Already, Oregon officials say the promised employment boom won’t be as big or easy as they’d once trumpeted as companies brace for a crash.

“We are entering a very dynamic and turbulent period in the solar industry,” says Edwin Koot, CEO of SolarPlaza, a Dutch consultancy firm. “Everyone will be affected. But never underestimate the Chinese.”

The Chinese boom

Three hours by car from Shanghai, Jiangsu province is China’s new golden powerhouse. Here, in the marine-layer fog of the Yellow Sea, an estimated 500 companies have ignited in just a few years — a cluster of businesses similar to what Oregon officials hope for, only on a scale to match China’s ambitions.

Already, companies here dominate the global landscape: Six of the top 15 solar manufacturers are Chinese, exceeding the numbers from solar stalwarts in Germany and Japan.

Analysts predict world demand for solar this year to be roughly 4.2 gigawatts, according to iSuppli, a research firm that tracks solar trends. Manufacturers across the globe plan to pump out nearly three times that, or 11.1 gigawatts.

Last year, China made up more than a quarter of the world’s production, nearly matching all of Europe. Already, smaller factories in China are sputtering out. But the big Chinese companies show few signs of slowing.

“We aren’t going to stop,” says Thomas Young, investment relations director with Jiangsu-based Trina Solar, the world’s 14th-largest producer. “We’re going to put our foot on the gas and sometimes coast and sometimes brake. But we can handle lower prices because we have such low overhead.”

China has no domestic solar market despite its surging energy needs, so it ships almost everything overseas. That’s likely to be the case until prices crash.

“The Chinese tactic has been to scale up production and sell it to the Europeans at European prices,” says Koot, the Dutch analyst. “Once the prices begin to plummet, they’ll use it themselves for their domestic market. It’s a smart strategy.”

Most companies in China start like QS Solar, without much expertise or technology. But they know the formula for running a tight-ship factory — and can build one practically overnight. Not to mention, workers are a dime a dozen — and cost about that much.

“Chinese companies have been able to grow their capacity very quickly, faster than European companies,” says Rory MacPherson, investor relations director with Suntech Power, a Jiangsu-based company that is the world’s second-largest solar manufacturer. “And it’s because they have such low manufacturing costs.”

At Solarfun, nearly 15,000 modules are practically handcrafted each month. Founded in 2004 in Jiangsu and now the world’s seventh-largest solar module producer, the company’s campus houses more than 2,000 workers. In teams of 100, they solder cells, lay thin films of plastic and apply bar codes, one by one.

“Asian factories are much more disciplined than Western factories,” says Harold Hoskens, Solarfun chief executive officer. “Where mechanization would outweigh the benefits of manual labor, it’s a long way off, and we still have very good quality.”

Worker productivity is meticulously recorded on whiteboards. A notation next to every worker’s name indicates how many cells he or she has made — and broken. A perfect production record means a green smiley-face sticker next to a worker’s name — and a $10 bonus, a hefty sum for workers who average about $150 a month. Workers who break five in a month get a red face and risk losing their job.

At the end of every month, each team produces 1.6 megawatts of energy, enough to provide 533 Oregon households a third of their energy needs. Their record of success: 96 percent.

“That is the human potential,” says sales manager Yizhong Li.

Oregon competitors

SolarWorld’s new Hillsboro factory is strikingly devoid of people. In an enormous production area, floor-to-ceiling machines hum, while robotic arms sort and move wafers. Computers control almost every step.

Mechanization, says Vice President Bob Beisner, is better because computers are more precise than people.

“You can set up a robot to handle the wafers gently and repeat it at high volumes,” Beisner says. “To teach that to a human and have them repeat it is very, very difficult.”

Still, the German company expects to eventually employ more than 1,000 people, in maintenance, administration or engineering. By early 2011, SolarWorld will pump out 500 megawatts of electricity-generating cells. And, despite the economic gloom, Chief Operating Officer Boris Klebensberger doesn’t see downshifting expansion.

Still, he can’t ignore China’s meteoric ascent.

“We would be foolish if we didn’t admit Chinese companies are our competitors,” Klebensberger says. “So you have to be better, or you aren’t going to survive.”

For SolarWorld, survival rests on a tactic almost identical to that of the Chinese factories: scaling up production to bring down costs. The difference at SolarWorld is that the average salary is $3,200 a month for production workers, not the $150 paid in China.

Lower profit margins will be the wave of the future for solar companies. And those with lower costs will live to compete another day.

“The solar industry in the past four years has never had to face a competitive market,” says Travis Bradford of the Chicago-based Prometheus Institute, which tracks renewable-energy industries. “The era of easy profit in this business has passed. SolarWorld has been a beneficiary of that.”

SolarWorld, one of Germany’s fastest-growing companies last year, counts on a loyal customer base and a 25-year warranty. It also banks on a brand that’s far from China’s image as a maker of cheap goods.

American-made is also a selling tool for John Sedgwick, co-founder of California-based Solaicx, which opened a Portland plant in late 2007.

“The whole theory is that we’re providing a superior product,” Sedgwick says. “The Chinese are competitors in that they make a similar product. But our technology is highly differentiated from the technology they use there.”

But Chinese companies’ quality is as high as their American and European competitors, Bradford says.

“So far,” he says, “I have not heard of any substantiated quality issues from the top five companies in China.”

Tough decisions

The world’s largest trade show, in Munich last April, featured just one U.S. state with its own booth: Oregon.

That’s where Nikolaus Meyer, CEO of Sulfurcell, a German solar manufacturer, first heard about Oregon’s generous tax credits.

“I heard that if you build a factory in Oregon,” Meyer says, “the government will pay for it.”

He isn’t entirely off. Oregon offers companies tax credits, job training and cheap loans. That’s not including the tax rebates individual communities can throw in.

Sulfurcell plans to build a new factory within the next two years. The question for Meyer is where: Oregon or Asia?

Oregon could be a winner if the U.S. solar market takes off, says Meyer, who plans to visit the state this year. But China is cheaper.

“The Chinese are going to be my competition for a long time,” says Meyer, on a tour of Chinese factories in November. “I need to know who my competition is.”

It may all end the same: If Meyer can’t beat the Chinese, he may have to join them.

By Amy Hsuan, The Oregonian -http://www.oregonlive.com/special/index.ssf/2009/02/solar_story.html

Oregon Manufactuer SolarWorld reports triple-Digit growth February 16, 2009

SolarWorld Friday reported triple-digit increases in both 2008 income and revenue, reflecting strong growth in solar energy both in the U.S. and internationally.

Sales for the German company, which operates North America’s largest photovoltaic manufacturing facility in Hillsboro — converted from euros — reached $1.2 billion, up from $866 million in 2007. Aside from one-time charges, earnings before interest and taxes grew by 49 percent to $327 million. Earnings from continued operations jumped 39 percent to about $170 million.

The company said January sales exceeded sales from the same period last year, though it did not provide exact numbers.

When at full capacity in 2011, SolarWorld’s 480,000-square-foot plant in Hillsboro,OR will employ more than 1,000 people.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/02/09/daily66.html

Wind Turbine Maker Vestas considers shedding jobs February 11, 2009

Wind – The turbine maker, expanding in Portland, says orders need to pick up.

Vestas Wind Systems AS, the world’s leading wind-turbine maker, may reduce jobs if the rate of new orders doesn’t improve in the next 11 weeks, Chief Executive Ditlev Engel said.

Orders from the U.S., the largest wind-turbine market, “came to a standstill” after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September tightened credit for wind-farm developers, Engel said Wednesday in New York after announcing that fourth-quarter profit doubled.

Denmark-based Vestas employs about 350 people at its six Portland locations. In December, the company announced plans for a $250 million office complex that would add about 650 jobs to its North American headquarters in the city.

The slump in U.S. orders left Vestas with a backlog of 5.2 billion euros, or $6.69 billion, about 75 percent of this year’s sales target of 7.2 billion euros, Engel said.

Last year’s backlog accounted for 80 percent of sales, he said. U.S. customers are waiting for the final version of wind-power incentives in the economic stimulus plan that may emerge next week, he said.

President Barack Obama has said he wants to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. More incentives may follow in a comprehensive energy bill, Engel said.

“The political landscape for our industry has never been better,” Engel said. “The financing and banking climate has never been worse.”

The final stimulus bill probably will extend a federal tax credit for power production by wind turbines that would otherwise expire at year-end and guarantee as much as $90 billion in loans for renewable energy and new power lines needed to reach markets, Christine Tezak, a Washington, D.C.-based analyst for Stanford Group Co., wrote Wednesday in a note to clients.

Engel has resisted pressure to match job cuts this year by LM Glasfiber, the world’s biggest maker of wind-turbine blades, and the wind unit of Siemens AG, saying Vestas needs experienced employees to maintain quality. Reliability is crucial to buyers who expect turbines to run for 20 years, he said.

Vestas will maintain a hiring freeze until sales revive, he said. Staffing rose 36 percent, to 20,829 employees, in 2008.

“The U.S. has the best wind resources in the world,” Engel said. “When the banks do come back into the financing market, they will be looking for low-risk businesses, and wind is very low-risk.”

Fourth-quarter net income doubled to 316 million euros from a year earlier. That beat the 242 million euro median estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales rose 32 percent, to 2.48 billion euros.

Engel also maintained a 2009 capital spending plan of 1.2 billion euros that includes expanding its first U.S. manufacturing operation, which opened last year in Colorado.

That spending will be scaled back unless orders pick up, he said. He declined to say which operations or projects may be reduced or delayed.

Also Wednesday, Vestas announced a new, 3-megawatt turbine planned for shipment in 2010. It will be more economical than existing models in areas with low to moderate wind energy because it will be capable of generating power from wind as light as 6.7 mph compared with 11 mph for current designs, Engel said.

“We have no intention of lowering our prices,” he said.

Vestas also won’t attempt to compete with General Electric Co., the largest U.S.-based producer of electrical equipment including wind turbines, in financing wind-turbine projects, he said.

Jim Polson, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1234407318326370.xml&coll=7

Solar jobs a tough catch for states February 10, 2009

A year ago, Solectric Inc. was little more than a concept. Today the Troutdale-based start-up is being courted by a handful of states hoping to land the 100,000-square foot manufacturing plant the company wants to build.

Company officials remain coy, saying Oregon remains in contention for the plant, which will make thin-film solar modules, and its 220 jobs.

“It looks like it’s going to be here,” CEO Paul Hodge Jr. said this week.

State officials, however, worry that Solectric could join a growing list of solar companies that got away. While Oregon was once one of the few states fighting to recruit solar energy companies, the field of competitors is growing. And for every SolarWorld and Sanyo Solar the state has lured, just as many ended up elsewhere.

“My biggest fear,” said Tim McCabe, director of the Oregon Economic & Community Development Department, the state’s chief job recruitment division, “is that when we’ve convinced (a company) they need to be here, that they go shopping once they’ve got our offer.”

Oregon has placed significant emphasis on promoting the state as the epicenter of solar manufacturing in the U.S,, touting its access to a skilled workforce, relatively cheap electricity, and proximity to California, which represents 80 percent of the U.S. solar market.

The state gained significant momentum with the addition of SolarWorld, which last fall opened the world’s largest photovoltaic manufacturing plant in Hillsboro, and Sanyo Solar, which broke ground in Salem in October on a plant to produce solar ingots and wafers.

State officials are in talks with several other companies to add to the momentum, McCabe said.

“What doesn’t get reported, is we don’t win a lot of these,” McCabe said.

German firm Schott Solar Inc., a company Oregon targeted, announced in Jan. 2008 its plans to build a plant in Albuquerque, N.M. Evergreen Solar Inc. chose to stay in its home state of Massachusetts after receiving an incentive offer from Oregon.

And in October, Oslo-based Renewable Energy Corporation ASA announced it would invest $3 billion in Singapore in a photovoltaic manufacturing plant that will include 1,300 jobs in the first phase. Oregon officials said the state hoped to lure the project.

“The big thing we’re seeing now is that other states woke up about six months ago,” said Bruce Laird, the OECDD’s recruitment specialist for the renewable energy sector. “We used to have an absolutely clear field in talking to these companies and now we’re seeing the big-incentive states showing up.”

That includes New Mexico, which — among other things — gave Schott $7.5 million in addition, and Tennessee, which has shown its muscle in the past by luring once-lucrative auto manufacturing jobs to the state.

McCabe said it’s natural and acceptable for companies like Solectric to play the field.

“Evergreen was one that originated in Massachusetts, came out here, went back to Massachusetts, and they beat it,” McCabe said. “They’re not dishonest. They’re trying to get the best deal. That’s a real-world business situation.”

Hodge said Solectric has met with officials in Nevada, Utah, California and Washington, but Oregon has thus far provided the best opportunity.

The company hopes to decide within a month. It has selected sites in Salem and Washington County, but would not identify exact locations because it is still in negotiations with county officials.

“We just feel so far that the state and counties locally are willing to contribute the most to help fund our facility,” Hodge said.

Solectric’s plans include an initial 100,000-square-foot plant to produce 20 megawatts of capacity.

It plans to use an existing thin-film manufacturing production line, enhancing it with laser technology it believes can produce solar electric modules that are more efficient and cost effective.

Solectric plans to sell the modules using a network of licensed dealers for residential commercial-scale projects.

Hodge said the company already owns 900 acres near Reno, Nev., on which it will develop a 150 megawatt solar farm that today would be the world’s largest solar project, he said. The $500 million project will take seven years to complete, he said.

Hodge said the company’s panels can be affixed to the sides of buildings or balconies, allowing them to look like tinted windows that generate electricity.

Justin Pentelute, the company’s director of sales, said Solectric has $4 million in pre-sales, not including pending commercial-scale projects the company said are forthcoming.

Hodge said the company anticipates $30 million in 2009 sales, a figure he expects to grow to $80 million a year later.

The anticipated market demand already has the company planning for a second, 100,000-square-foot phase to its yet-to-be-located manufacturing plant.

“This next 12 months is the big gold rush for solar,” Hodge said. “We’re making history right now.”

While some solar companies nationwide are struggling under tight credit markets, the Solar Energy Industries Association this week said the passage of a federal stimulus bill — filled with an array of solar incentives — could generate as many as 67,000 jobs this year nationwide.

“And we are just getting started, as these figures will more than double in 2010,” Rhone Resch, the trade group’s president and CEO, said in a news release.

Oregon officials, meanwhile, continue to recruit new solar companies, with a particular focus on firms that supply photovoltaic manufacturers.

“We’re still the leading manufacturer of solar in the U.S. and that’s going to grow,” McCabe said. “The potential is huge and I really think we’re going to realize that potential. How big? It’s probably not going to be as big as I want.”

By Erik Siemers, Portland Business Journal - http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/02/09/story2.html?b=1234155600^1774428&page=2

Wind energy layoffs at a glance January 30, 2009

The wind energy industry is seeking tax incentives and grants to help it navigate the recession. Some of the recent layoffs in turbine manufacturing include:

- Clipper Windpower, a Carpinteria, Calif.-based turbine maker, said in January it was laying off 90 of the company’s 830 workers, mainly at a plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Iowa facility employed nearly 390 workers.

- LM Glasfiber, a Danish manufacturer of turbine blades, said in January it was laying off 150 workers and halting production at one of two plants in Little Rock, Ark.

- DMI Industries, a North Dakota-based manufacturer of wind turbine towers, announced in January that it was cutting its work force by 20 percent. About 60 jobs were lost in West Fargo, N.D., and 90 jobs more in Tulsa, Okla., and Fort Erie, Ontario.

- Aerisyn LLC, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based manufacturer of towers for wind turbines, said in November it would lay off 54 workers at its Chattanooga plant.

- Trinity Structural Towers, a Fort Worth, Texas-based subsidiary of Trinity Industries, announced in November that it would lay off 131 workers in Tulsa, Okla.

http://www.theolympian.com/business/wire/story/743467.html

Wind energy groups seeking economic stimulus aid January 30, 2009

Wind power advocates are pushing for billions in tax incentives and grants in the $819 billion recovery package moving through Congress, hoping to offset an economic slowdown affecting the industry.

Expansion of wind energy, a key part of rural development throughout the Midwest and Great Plains, could depend on how the stimulus plan is overhauled by the Senate next week and eventually resolved by congressional negotiators.

Wind power posted gains last year, with electricity generated by wind turbines increasing by 50 percent and 13,000 additional jobs in wind turbine and component manufacturing, the American Wind Energy Association reported this past week. President Barack Obama has called for a doubling of renewable energy production in three years, a potential boon for wind power.

But the financial meltdown has slowed demand for wind turbines, siphoned off available financing and put many projects on hold.

“With the banks and insurance companies backing away from or out of this investment in wind market, that really has put a damper on wind,” said Bob Gates, an executive with Clipper Windpower Inc., a Carpinteria, Calif.-based turbine maker. “It’s gone flip-flop in four months.”

The House-passed bill and the Senate plan would offer $13 billion over 10 years to extend a production tax credit through 2012 – the credits currently expire each year – and provide tax breaks for investments in renewable energy. The House version also includes a grant program that covers 30 percent of the upfront costs of wind energy investments.

The Senate version includes the tax breaks but does not offer the grant program, which would allow wind and solar industries to convert tax credits into grants from the Energy Department.

Wind power advocates say the grant program is needed because tax credits have been hampered by the recession. The projects require large upfront financing and have traditionally attracted investors who use the credits to offset tax liabilities. But few of these investors are profitable now.

Clipper Windpower announced about 90 layoffs earlier this month, mainly at a manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and several wind-related manufacturers have announced similar cuts.

“Without this grant program or something very much like it, we’re looking at a very difficult year in 2009 and maybe 2010 as well,” said Greg Wetstone, senior director for government and public affairs at the American Wind Energy Association.

Several Midwest states are hoping to increase their stake in wind energy, pointing to the potential for rural development. Wetstone’s organization estimates that North Dakota has nation’s largest wind energy potential, followed by Texas, Kansas and South Dakota.

“We’re just scratching the surface with the potential we have with wind energy,” said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.

Proponents in Congress said the extension of the production tax credit would help. Wind farm developers would see a tax credit for every kilowatt-hour of electricity they produce extended through the end of 2012.

“We’ve got to get some certainty in these tax incentives and that means extending the production tax credit,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.

http://www.theolympian.com/business/wire/story/743465.html

California Wind-Turbine manufacturer cuts 90 jobs January 27, 2009

Clipper Windpower, the Carpinteria-based wind turbine manufacturer, has reduced its workforce by about 90 positions, the lion’s share at its production plant in Iowa. A company spokeswoman wouldn’t detail the exact number of jobs lost at its Carpinteria office, where administrative, engineering and sales support activities are based.

Mary Gates, a Clipper Windpower spokeswoman, blamed the global economy and credit crunch for causing financing problems for Clipper Windpower customers. The company, which touts its “green” energy innovations, employs about 840 people worldwide and about 309 at its Cedar Rapids, Iowa, manufacturing and assembly plant. Ms. Gates said the majority of the job losses are centered in Cedar Rapids, where the company began production in 2005. Clipper Windpower hopes to rehire these production employees when orders pick up, she added.

The company is one of only two U.S.-owned turbine makers — the other being General Electric — in an industry dominated by European manufacturers and wind farm developers.

Clipper Windpower CEO Doug Pertz, in an interview with Wind Watch: Industrial Wind Energy News, said business slowed as customers delayed existing orders and put off new ones because they couldn’t obtain financing for new wind farms. Mr. Pertz said the company’s production is down 20 percent from the turbines it manufactured in 2008.

Long-term and despite the layoffs, Clipper Windpower management still sees a bright future for wind energy. The company is encouraged by the Obama administration’s stated goal to double production of renewable energy in the next three years, and in its support to require 25 percent of America’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2025.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2143549/